


House of The Moon

by MissKatherine



Category: Original Work
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Dark Magic, Demon, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Family, Magic, Manipulative Relationship, Siblings, Spells & Enchantments, Witchcraft, Witches, coven - Freeform, familiar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 06:44:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 54,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20466752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissKatherine/pseuds/MissKatherine
Summary: A demon without memories and a human without humanity struggle to navigate a relationship of what it means to be a family.





	1. Chapter 1

No bus route means seventeen hour drive with an old truck and a risk of it breaking down mid-way. It wasn’t his first option, but flying was never on the list, all the security checks will more than definitely find all the tiny dead animal skeletons and parchments with blood very suspicious. Traveling without them is like asking to leave a limb behind. So while on the road with ice for air and a shitty heating system, Harvey focuses more on what’s waiting for him on the other side. It works for a little while, but being distracted doesn’t mean he can’t be sleepy. He pushes through for few hours and if it was up to him, he wouldn’t stop for sleep or food until he gets to Maine. Better late than dead, he thinks.

A big part of the reason he’s actually driving, even if he can’t admit it, is the fact that all this time will act as a buffer because he’s really not ready to face her. Therefore he can spend this time convincing himself he didn’t do anything wrong. That in going back it’ll all be fixed, they’ll go back to the way it was before. Just without all the suffering they had to endure. He’d do anything for a drink right about now.

It’s 11 p.m when he finds a small motel off the road near Massachusetts and he makes a stop. But sleeping is never a priority, he makes a detour to a bar that looks worse on the outside than it is on the inside. There are few cars parked out that tell him what kinda place he’s walking into. But a drink is a drink, regardless where. The layout matches about 30 other bars that Harvey been to, it’s nothing too big. Harvey sweeps the place quick, seeing that there’s only one exit, the one he walked in from. There’s an older man behind the bar with two people sitting apart, the high tables around the entrance are all empty except for one, there’s a couple that seem to be getting into a loud-whisper argument. He notices them when they stop to look at him, and he doesn’t have to look to see that the two men at the bar and the bartender are doing the same. Even in the dim light, the red mark on his eye draws a lot of attention.

Harvey walks straight to the bar, taking a seat in the far corner, making sure to avoid everyone. The bartender walks to him without as much as a smile. “What can I get ya?”

Harvey leans back, not making eye contact. “Your strongest whisky.”

“Gonna have to see some I.D”

Harvey looks up, meeting the man’s eyes, then sighs, decides it’s not worth the trouble. He gets his I.D out and hands it over. The bartender scans it, looking at Harvey then at the card again.

“The huge burn on my eye isn’t valid enough for you? I’m 23 by the way, just in case your math skills are rusty.” His face is blank when he speaks. So the bartender scoffs and gives the I.D back before turning around to get the drink. Harvey hears him mumble something along the lines of “Smartass”

The burn covers his left eye, the entire area under it, extending to his cheekbone a little and hiding in his hairline, it’s more of a splash, because it reaches a little to the side of his nose as well. It’s more on the pink side now. It used to be an angry red. He got it when he was about twelve, couple of the kids in the coven thought it was funny to prank him by dumbing some water on him, one of the kids happened to be on the sociopath side of things so he boiled the water, ambushed him in the woods, then threw it in his face, Harvey managed to duck last minute but it still got his left side. He cried about it for week, thinking he was gonna go blind on one side, he mostly is now. His left eye having more of a grey color than his normal brown. No one talked to him or assured him of anything, they didn’t even bother to check on his wound. He knew just how alone in the world he was.

The drink comes in and Harvey downs it like a glass of water, feeling the bitter taste run down his throat and cling there. He pushes the glass away, mentioning to the bartender to get another one. It’s the only thing that’ll help him sleep tonight. The couple behind him get a little louder and he turns to give them a quick glance, the girls seems to be ready to leave but the man is stopping her.

“Jesus, just sit down! Stop acting like a child.” He pulls her down and she settles. Saying something to him in a lower tone. Harvey turns away and watches his drink get placed down. He reaches for it, something about that girl reminds him of his sister, not appearance that’s for sure, this girl is taller with a tanned skin, but maybe it’s the way she deflated when the man touched her.

_“You were gone forever.” She sighs_

_“It was half a day, beloved sister, hardly forever.” He takes his shoes off and throws himself on the bed._

_“Where do you go?”_

_“Out.” He states and feels the bed dip when she climbs next to him. He opens his eyes to see her sitting against the wall with her legs thrown over his torso._

_“Can’t I come with?” She all but whines._

_“No, why’d you wanna come?”_

_“I’ve been practicing magic and—“_

_“What?” He sits straight and throws her legs off him. “Why? With who?”_

_“Alone. I swear.” She swallows and her voice lowers. “I just wanna help...aren’t I supposed to be your Familiar? You just never need me. I see everyone else...and— I mean, they just don’t go anywhere without their Familiar. I’m supposed to protect you.” Her face turns red by the time she’s done. She’s angry now that’s plainly obvious._

_“We’re not everyone else, stop comparing.” His voice is loud, and he looks her in the eyes to show her how serious he is. “And stop paying attention to people you don’t care about. Im strong enough for the both of us, I’ll make sure you never have to worry about protecting me.” He reaches for her and she avoids him, jumping off the bed._

_“Stop acting like a child.” He’s out of patience._

_“I’m sick of being trapped in here all the damn time!” She realizes that she never raised her voice at Harvey before, but the words are out and she’s never been one to back down._

_Harvey is up and in her space in a matter of seconds. “Wanna leave? Be my fucking guest! Just don’t come back. If they’re too mean or you end up a toy for them, don’t fucking come back!”_

_The tears in her eyes build up fast, but she doesn’t wanna back down. She lifts her hands to push him but he grabs hold of her and throws her against the wall, trapping her much smaller frame with just his forearms. “You’re mine and I don’t share, don’t forget who summoned you, kid.”_

_“I’m not a kid.” She’s crying now. Eyes blurry and nose red. “Just because I didn’t have my memories when you summoned me doesn’t mean I’m a kid. I remember what I am, and I’m not a kid. I hate you and I hate this human body!” She thrashes around but Harvey’s strength makes it impossible to move._

_He gives her another shove to shut her up. “Stop being a little shit. Your body’s gonna grow, and if you want me to take you seriously, stop throwing temper tantrums.”_

_He releases her and turns around to walk to the bed. “You didn’t have to answer my summons,” he sits on the bed and stares at her. “You were a little baby demons who thought she can play with the big boys,” he’s just saying it to hurt her. “You’re lucky I didn’t throw you away when you showed up, little six year old who thought she was human, what a joke.” He chuckles. “You’re lucky I wanted a little sister.”_

_She wipes her tears away but there’s more following. She walks to him and sits right next to him, not caring if he’s mad, she hugs him from the side and sobs into his shoulder. “I don’t wanna leave.”_

_He pulls her away to look at her face. “Then stop disobeying me.”_

_She just nods._

_Harvey wipes her tears away, putting on her favorite smile. “I’ll always choose you.”_

Harvey leaves cash on the counter before heading out, hearing the bartender yell “Have a good one” after him but he doesn’t answer. He heads to his car, not feeling the cold anymore after his drinks, he lights a smoke as he starts the car and drives towards the motel.

The bed is lumpy, the lights are dim, and the door barely locks, but if he can get some sleep and food then hit the road before 11, it’s a win.

He dreams of pretty glassy eyes and a messy blond hair, of small hands that carry his dolls behind and run around the forest to bury them where no one would find.

_“Harvey.”_

_“Hm?” He answers without lifting his head off the bed._

_“I think I lost one of the chess pieces. I need a new one.”_

_Harvey looks at her, with her bare feet on the cold wood, and her dress a size too big, being held together by one of his belts. Her hair falling past her elbows, he can see the leaves stuck in it. She snuck out when Harvey wasn’t here and she thinks she can hide it. He sits straight and runs his hand through his hair to push it out of his face._

_“C’mere” He extends his hand to her and she follows. Like a magnet walking towards him and standing in front of him._

_“Where’d you lose it, smaller sister?” Harvey asks. Not really looking at her, more concerned with fixing her hair._

_She shrugs. “I don’t know” balancing off from one foot to the other. Studying Harvey’s face._

_“Hmm. Did you leave the room today?”_

_When he doesn’t get an answer, he looks up at her. He knows there was no need to ask, she’d never lie, she was probably going to admit it sooner or later._

_“I didn’t know when you’d be back.”_

_“That doesn’t answer my question.”_

_“It was for a little bit.”_

_“What’s the point of the barrier if you’re gonna keep leaving. I can’t protect you when you disobey me.”_

_Harvey pulls her to sit down next to him and starts to straighten down her hair the best he could. Pulling all the leaves out. Hearing her wince when he untangles the knots with his fingers. “You need a hair cut.”_

_She sits quietly, doesn’t talk anymore, doesn’t say she’s sorry for leaving without his permission. Doesn’t argue about her hair, she knows Harvey will do what he wants in the end._

_“I’ll get you a new chess board tomorrow.” He sighs loudly and starts braiding her hair._

_“We can start a new score.” She chirps in and tries to turn around but he holds her still to keep braiding._

_“Why? So you can beat me again?” He laughs and wraps both arms around her._

_“You won few times” she turns her head sideways to look at him._

_He smiles and lets go of her. “Oh, smaller sister, I’m sure you knew I cheated.”_

_She turns around completely and Harvey sees the surprised look on her face, which causes him to smile wider. She throws a sad punch at his chest and storms off the bed._

_Harvey can’t contain his laughter anymore. “Where you going?” He doesn’t bother getting up after her, she only has the bathroom as a refuge._

_“I hate it when you lie to me.” she yells at him and slams the bathroom door shut behind her._

_Harvey still finds it amusing how innocent she can be all things considered. He always believed she got enough morals for the both of them. He sure can’t live by her rules, and no matter how much he drills into her that humans aren’t what they seem, she holds humanity to a high standard._

Harvey wakes up to his alarm, he wants to slam in to the wall and go back to sleep. He wants to see her more, so he gets himself up to shower, as expected the shower fits in with the rest of the motel reputation. He gets a bite to eat in a drive thru before hitting the road again. The weather gets colder as he gets closer to Maine and he knows he didn’t bring a heavy jacket for the long walk he’s gonna take. This whole trip wasn’t planned, he didn’t plan to be so weak that he had to go back, the plan was to leave his old life behind, to keep the two separate and therefore safe.

When he arrives at Maine, its like he never left, he navigates so easily, all the way to the North woods where he can’t drive anymore and is forced to walk the rest of the way. He knows these woods like the back of his hands. No matter how thick or dangerous, he’s been here since he was Ten. All his life was witnessed by these trees, the worst of it and the best. The times he hated himself and wanted to die, the times he was so close to hurting everyone who hurt him, the times he was the older brother who would do anything for his sister. The many times he left her alone and thought about her every second he was away. None of that matters anymore, even after Nine months, this emptiness isn’t passing. It’s not a phase, it’s not something he’ll ever get over.

The house stands next to an oak tree, both probably just as old, and just as tall. The wood barely holding and Harvey can clearly see the barrier around it, which he guesses is supposed to be invisible, but whichever amateur did the job can’t hold the candle to Harvey’s witchcraft. He walks right through the barrie, with little resistance, all the way to the front steps. He doesn’t knock, just twists the door knob and enters.

He expects a greeting committee considering he just broke their barrier, but he finds no one. He’s faced with the ugly carpet and the giant staircase in the middle. The walls are just as dry as when he left, the symbols still stand, and the candles lying around every table. What really hasn’t changed is how cold it is inside. It’s almost like the coven wanted everyone to suffer as long as they were here. Harvey gets his legs to move and walks towards the stairs, still on guard, waiting for someone to notice the intrusion.

“Harvey?”

He’d know that old voice anywhere. He looks up to see the old woman with long grey hair at the top of the stairs. Her body covered entirely except her hands, which show the tattoos all over them.

“Where’s she, old hag?” Harvey is more on guard than before, but his body language doesn’t betray him, he keeps walking up, eyes trained on her.

“Not even a hello.” Her entire face wrinkles when she smiles.

Harvey is at the opposite end of her, back to the hallway that leads to his old room. “Where is she?” He places his hands in his pockets as a reminder not to attack anyone.

“Well, everyone is at the Moon Harvest, maybe she went with them.” She turns around to walk away from him. Moving slowly like an old woman but Harvey knows better.

“I will kill you and everyone else in this goddamn coven if I don’t get an answer.” Harvey doesn’t lose a beat over his threat, he’s not angry, not yet anyway. He talks exactly the same way he always does, emotionless and little bored. He doesn’t know that’s exactly what scares everyone.

The old woman turns around and looks him in the eye, defiant. “Took you long enough to care. But I don’t know where she is completely.” She heads to the staircase and holds the railing.

“Do you know where she is partially?”

“Mckenzie left about Six months ago, couldn’t stay here without you. Probably went to the humans to find you.” She takes careful steps down the stairs.

“If you’re lying—“

“You don’t trust me?” It’s meant to mock him.

Harvey is still at the top of the stairs. “Trust you, at least six people here tried to kill me, not counting you.”

He realizes that about Three months after he left, she ran away too. “What’d you do with her things, Silver?”

Silver is all the way by the front door when she throws Harvey a look over her shoulder “Can’t even make a little locator spell without something of hers? What kinda Master are you?” Her laugh is cracked and bitter. “It’s all in the cellar.” Then’s she’s out the door.

Harvey doesn’t have time to justify anything to Silver, he never cared what she or the coven thought of him, it’s a waste of time to care what others think. People only care about themselves, humans are selfish, they’re made that way. As the cold starts to get to him, he runs down all the way to the cellar, shakes the door open and looks around in the scrummage of the old boxes with labels. He even finds few with his name on it and passes them in favor of finding some that belong to his sister.

He grabs the old chess board as soon as he sees it, ribbing the little bag with all the pieces tapped to it and leaves. On his way up he doesn’t encounter anyone inside the house, as Silver said, everyone is at the Moon Harvest, and that’s probably where she went too. Harvey remembers never going, no one at the coven would let him, always accusing him of being too powerful, that he had no need to obtain more power. The point of the Harvest was for the coven to get in touch with their main source of power, not a lot of covens draw power from the moon, they usually depend on a closer source, something that’s not out of reach. Harvey never knew any traditions, he was always locked up in his room with his sister, isolated from everyone, treated like a threat.

The outside air doesn’t shock him, it’s just as cold inside. As he walks down the steps he sees Silver standing by the oak tree, looking up at the moon light. It takes all his will power not to strike her down right there, she wouldn’t even see it coming. If she thinks the moon can really protect her, she’s in for a surprise. Harvey feels all these memories rushing back, not wanting to be buried anymore. He remembers Kenzie’s face when he came back one day to find her passed out on the kitchen floor, the house entirely empty, and a stain of dried blood around her ribs. She tried to play it down, saying she got cut while she was cleaning some broken glass, but she shouldn’t even be out of their room. Her inability to lie eventually gets Harvey all the answers. How she came downstairs because she thought everyone was at the Harvest but Jean was still hanging behind.

Jean who liked to get drunk everyday and hit his Familiar then brag about it like she was a piece of property. Turns out he broke some plates and wanted Kenzie to clean it, only to get mad at her and beat her before leaving to join everyone else. Leaving her in the process, with a shard of glass between her ribs that she had to pull out herself. She healed herself afterwords but Harvey can’t look at that dress anymore without wanting to set fire to this house and everyone in it. She begged him not to go after Jean, said it was pointless, she can’t get hurt and Jean could never kill her. To Harvey though, that was exactly the point, how can someone hurt his sister like that and not get punished. Harvey ends up sneaking away that night to kill Jean’s Familiar, an eye for an eye. Not to say it was easy, he’s one of the few witches in this world with the power to creat a weapon that can hurt Familiars.

Silver, the supreme, the head of their coven, watched idly as he was dragged around by the people that were supposed to protect him, when he was just a child, no family, no where to go, lost and alone and too scared to know what to do. Silver lets her little minions have their way, to hurt him and then shun him away for being too powerful, to neglect him for years, leaving him with no one to trust, to start believing that this world was made to show how cruel humans are, and if he wanted to survive then he needs to be as cruel as them. That being honest and having morals wasn’t going to keep him alive. He remembers being Thirteen, very used to being alone, after teaching himself a new type of magic he gets in trouble for no reason, the coven gets mad at him for perfecting his witchcraft at such a young age. They force him away, he knows it won’t be long before they kick him out of the coven, but then he hears Silver talking about summoning a Familiar for him. He thinks it might be the only way he can stay. He beats them to it and summons one himself.

It ends up being the best and worst decision ever. The coven doesn’t like how he can manage to summon a Familiar all by himself when he’s just a kid. It gets so much worse for him and Kenzie, they refuse to talk to either of them after that, leaving them to fend for themselves. But she was just so small and fragile, she didn’t know who, or what she was. She thought she was a human. Harvey knows now the only reason she ended up so young and with no memories is because he wasn’t strong enough to summon a Familiar, he should’ve never done it. But she’s the best thing to ever happen to him. He would do it all over again in a heartbeat. There’s no one he wants to belong to other than her.

“You’re still here.” Silver doesn’t really seem surprised.

He walks to her, shoulders slumped from the cold, hands in his jeans pockets, and his nose completely red. “I got what I need.”

“You should’ve never come back. You don’t belong here.” The air comes out of her mouth like a smoke when she speaks.

He gives the prettiest smile when he looks at her. “If I hear that any of you hurt her while I was away, I’ll come back and set fire to everyone in this house.” He shakes his legs a little to get some blood flowing. “It’s too damn cold.” He states before starting to walk away. Leaving Silver gripping her hands and looking white as a ghost.

Harvey uses the chess piece to do the locator spell on his car, placing the map on the hood, he pulls a knife out of his back pocket and cuts the palm on his right hand, then holding the piece tightly over the map, letting the blood drop slowly to form a path. “In hoc sanguine, ut ne unus amo mihi.”

He shines a flashlight over the map to see his blood traveling in a clear line to Island Falls which is about an Hour drive from the woods. Figures she’d stay close enough to the coven even when she runs away. Harvey wraps a piece of one his shirts around his hand and looks at the chess piece, once white, now bloody, he shoves it in his pocket before driving off.

He thinks about what she’s doing and who she’s staying with. He wonders how she sees life with humans, without magic, if she’s really happy, and why wasn’t she able to find him sooner. She definitely knows how to, being his Familiar. For a split second his brain makes him believe that she’s hurt, but that’s not possible, demons don’t get hurt, they don’t die and no human can ever hurt them. But six months is a long time for her to be looking. Maybe she’s really happy, she always loved humans, maybe she moved on and doesn’t need him anymore. That idea seems to get Harvey angrier than anything else he ever thought about in the past nine months. He can’t stand the thought of her being with someone else, he made it very clear that he doesn’t share, he won’t, she belongs only to him and if she thinks she can just escape without consequences, she’s mistaken.

It’s not late when he gets to the place on the map, it’s a lazy quiet town, covered in snow and old houses that barely stand. The streets are dirty, the markets seems the types of places that carry liquor regardless if they have licenses or not. The people underpaid and probably living in this place for generations for the one reason of being too poor or drunk to move out. He parks his truck on the street, seeing the light-green one story house with broken fences and an old kiddy pool covered in a thin layer of snow. The patches of grass that do show are dead and yellow. The house itself has two dirty windows with a wooden door in between, the steps leading up to it are worn down and tilted. Harvey knocks three times as hard as he can and shoves his hands back in his jeans. Looking around and seeing that there are no curtains at the windows. But he can’t peak, he can’t move anymore. He may be too stunned with the fact of seeing his little sister. Nine months later, after many nights without sleep, without much of anything, because life was suddenly not worth living without her.

The door opens and Harvey finds himself face to face with a man slightly shorter than him, covered in a hoodie but he can clearly see the dark circles under his eyes, the hollow cheeks, and dry lips. He looks like he wants to intimidate Harvey. “Yeah?” His voice comes out ragged.

Harvey throws a look behind the man, to see if there’s anyone in the back of the hallway. “I’m here for my sister.” He blows out a breath “short, blond, full of spunk.” He doesn’t bother looking at the man while he talks.

“You got the wrong house, man.” The man moves to close the door but Harvey’s fast, placing his foot between the frame and the door, then pushing the door along with the man on the other side, forcing him to hit the wall.

With the door wide open, Harvey takes a single step inside, carefully, minding any magic that maybe lying around. Then he throws a smile to the man against the wall before walking inside. “I don’t do wrong. So where’s she?” He kicks the door closed and looks at the nearest door but the man is in front of him in a heart beat, blocking his way.

“I can call the cops you know. You’re trespassing, dude.” He might as well be shaking in his boots, but he’s trying. It makes Harvey chuckle.

Harvey ignores him and pushes through, walking to the first door, heart beating faster than ever, only to find it’s the kitchen. He looks to the right to the living room, the clothes lying around, the small TV, the old shit-stained couch with blankets on its back. He walks towards it without looking back at the man, who is still yelling, barely keeping himself up. Probably high. Harvey sees two feet dangling off the arm rest then it’s just one, and suddenly there’s a body sitting straight. He can only see the back. A pixie blond hair and a white neck.

The man isn’t very distance anymore, he’s there and he’s annoying and Harvey just wants to look and see if it’s really Kenzie. But like a background buzz that won’t quite down, the man is persistent. Harvey gets a grip around his neck and turns his head to watch him suffocate. “God, you’re annoying.” He sighs and tightens his grip.

“Harvey?”

Her voice is as soft as ever, as happy as ever, as beautiful and small and it makes Harvey squeeze tighter, killing the man on the spot. He turns his head and he wants to really make sure it’s her, so he instinctively looks to her feet. There’s no shoes, as usual. He lifts his gaze, finding her wrapped in some sheets and staring right back at him. Her long hair gone, showing off her eyes, her ears, her neck. She has nothing to hide behind anymore.

“You can let him go, pretty sure he’s dead.” She balances from one foot to the other. Wanting to move but not sure if it’s ok.

Harvey uncurls his fingers and the man drops to the floor with a loud noise, hitting something on the way down. Harvey lets all the air in his lungs out before running towards her and carrying her on one motion, hugging her so tightly, burying his face in her hair, trying to makeup for the last Nine months.

She holds him as tight as possible, not wanting to let go. Her eyes tear up and she doesn’t realize how loud she’s crying until he pulls away to look at her.

“Kenzie, what’s wrong?” He studies her face, drying her cheeks with his sleeve but she wouldn’t let him, bringing him close again.

“I thought...I thought you didn’t want me anymore.” Her voice cracks when she cries and it makes Harvey happy for some reason. Maybe because it’s proof she didn’t change, she’s still the same sister he knew

“Oh, my love, I would never. I told you, I’ll always choose you.” Harvey pulls away again. “Put some clothes on, we’re leaving.” He looks at the dead body behind them and pushes his hair away from his face. “Friend?” He asks.

Kenzie looks at the man on the floor and rushes towards the other door. “Umm...He was letting me stay here.” She enters the room, and it’s quiet for a while. Harvey can hear her struggle with some clothes before coming out with a small duffle and a long flowery dress with short sleeves, and no shoes.

The fact that she was lying naked in here like it was noting gets under his skin, and once the itch starts, it’s not easy to get rid of it. But he’s always been so good at keeping everything in check. “C’mon, how many times did I say to dress like a normal person, huh? You’ll attract attention like this.” He walks to her and grabs the bag from her.

Kenzie likes to dress in vintage dresses or sometimes southern summer styles that never really fit in with where they lived. Her personal style involves a lot of gem stones and healing rocks that don’t fit with Harvey’s magic, it interferes with it and no matter how many times he tells her to stop, it’s the one thing she disobeys him on. Considering she doesn’t feel cold or heat like humans, there was never a need to dress differently. Her problem with shoes came into view when Harvey first summoned her, she said it’s better to draw magic when she can feel everything, even if walking barefoot hurts.

She’s smiling dumbly up at him. “I won’t let the humans see me, promise.” She takes one of his hand then notices the cloth wrapped around it. “Ok?” She asks while examining his hand.

He holds her hand and starts walking towards the door. “Can’t do real magic without some blood, right?” He throws a small smile at her and she nods. Outside, her feet leave prints on the snow all the way up to the car, she gets in the front seat and lifts her legs up to her chest.

“Where we going?”

Harvey’s staring at her, his hand reaches up to touch the ends of her hair. “Cut it all out.” He states and runs his fingers along her ear before pulling away.

“You like it short better, don’t you?” She smiles wide.

He nods slowly without taking his eyes off her. “So, who was he, the dead guy.” He’s more serious now. He starts the car and finally looks at the road.

Kenzie lays her head down on her knees facing Harvey. “Like I said—“

“Were you fucking him? ‘Cause guys don’t just let people they don’t know live with them for free.” He doesn’t look at her, keeps on hand on the wheel, but it’s clear that he’s pissed.

“I had no where to go.” She can’t lie.

“Silver said you’ve been gone about Six months now, where you been staying?” He steps on the gas a little harder than he should. He feels his blood boiling. The thought never occurred to him.

“You went back to the coven?” She questions, little shocked.

“I went back for you, and you were gone. You don’t go around doing what you want without permission.” His hands tighten on the steering wheel.

“I was...I wanted to find you.” She answers.

“Ya, it definitely looked like you’re working hard to find me. Don’t bullshit me, Kenzie, if you really wanted to, you could’ve done it in few days.” He doesn’t look at her, knowing full well that she’ll start crying and he’s not gonna do this dance again.

“I was alone. I had no where to go, I was in my animal form for weeks before a family picked me up thinking I was a stray cat and took care of me.” Her voice cracks and she looks away from him. “I stole some clothes and ran away again, then I met Jared and he offered me a place to stay and I was getting sick of living in my animal form so I accepted.”

“And in return he gets his way with you? Did he even know you’re underage?” His tone is bitter and he’s meaning to hurt her.

“It’s just sex, Harvey, I didn’t give him a piece of your soul. Humans seem to really like it, and it kept me safe for a while. And I’m not underage, my human body may be not completely developed but I’m way older than any human on this planet.” She grits her teeth, sick of repeating this so many times. “Humans...they’re not as bad as you made them to be.”

“No, they’re much worse, you think Jared was doing you a favor? You think he’s some savior? He was a junkie who hit the jackpot when he found a little girl who doesn’t know how to say no.” He turns his gaze to her and he feels her cower away from him.

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be. Why didn’t you come find me? You know you only belong—”

“I know, I know, I only belong to you.” She finishes his sentence and gets a cold stare so she looks away. “I thought you didn’t want me.” She whispers.

He sighs and reaches for her, lacing his fingers through hers. “How childish of you, smaller sister.”

“At first I tried,” she admits “I had your old lighter and I was gonna try to use it to find you, but then I realized that...” she tries to get her hand back but he doesn’t let her so she looks up. “If you really wanted me why didn’t you take me with you.”


	2. Chapter 2

They drive all the way to North Carolina because that’s where Harvey said he lived. And Kenzie doesn’t ask any questions about why and since when and with who, the term _“Follow you till the end of the earth”_ applies to her more than anyone in this world or the next. She’s happy just because he came for her, that she wasn’t alone anymore. That those nine months without him can just disappear now, she can pretend they never happened.

She’s never been in a car this long, and her fascination wears down quickly, especially when the scenery looks all the same. She lays her head down on Harvey’s lap and looks up at him, he gives her one of his half smiles and goes back to look at the road.

“You never lived with normal humans before, right? You were raised in a coven?” She asks.

“Where’s this coming from?” He looks down at her and she shrugs.

“Witches are humans too, so in a way, you lived with humans your whole life.” She states.

“Witches, my darling sister, are nothing like humans, witches avoid interacting with humans, they’ve been isolated for generations, for thousands of years.”

“Humans seem nicer,” she lifts her hand to touch the burn on his eye “humans didn’t hurt me even when they didn’t know me.”

“Humans lie, just because you don’t, don’t mean you should believe everything others say.”

She pulls her hand away and turns to lay on her side. “That, I don’t understand.” She admits before dozing off.

She wakes up to the smell of Harvey’s cigarettes, somehow always smelling sweet. She lifts her head up and looks out the window to find the same road as before. Or if it’s a different one, then it looked too similar to the previous one. Harvey seems to instantly reach for her, he holds her hand to get her attention and she turns to him, eyes still not completely adjusted.

“We’ll be there soon.” He states.

She nods and goes back to staring out the window. They seem to be getting closer because the road isn’t as empty as before, there are wide buildings and small roads leading off to somewhere else. Kenzie hasn’t been outside very often, and in the human world, not at all, the last six months were her first encounter. She realizes she doesn’t have much to compare, but this place seems different from Maine, maybe it’s the air, or the lack of trees, but if one thing stays the same, it’s her inability to read Harvey. She wants to ask him where he lives and with who, for how long, are they gonna live there forever, is he planning on joining a coven or is he already in one. Though the chances of having another coven this close by are very unlikely. It gets her to realize that she doesn’t wanna join a coven, not if its anything like the old one. Maybe she doesn’t want to join one regardless. The idea of living with Harvey alone has always been appealing, knowing she has only her Master to answer to and no reason to be feared and afraid by the same people.

Not being able to ask anything or get answers doesn’t frustrate her, Harvey’s not the sharing type and she knows better than to bother him by asking. Harvey’s always been good at keeping people away, comes from his unfounded hate for all humanity. It’s still puzzling considering he used to disappear for hours on end, Kenzie not having a clue about where he went, with who, and what he did. As long as she stayed in the room, inside the barrier, she was being obedient and that would make him happy. So it never occurred to her to push the matter. The times that she disobeyed and left the room, she saw a side of Harvey that she didn’t think existed. The most memorable one being when she was stabbed in the rib by a shard of glass when a coven member was forcing her to clean up after him. It did hurt at the time but it wasn’t anything serious, her pain senses were very dull, being in a human body did get her to feel things she normally wouldn’t in her original form, but this wasn’t at the top of the list of things that actually hurt.

Harvey was so very sweet, taking her up and taking care of her as if she was still injured, she kept reminding him that the wound is long healed but as quiet as he was he looked like he would cry if she didn’t let him do this. But afterwards he definitely wasn’t as quiet, clearly moved on to being completely pissed at her. She realizes it was entirely her fault, but she wasn’t about to argue with him when he was this mad. The very next day he leaves just like always, but this time it feels like a dare, like he’s waiting to see if she would leave the room again. But she doesn’t. She sits there all day waiting for him, reading through his books when she gets bored, but stays put nonetheless.

Maybe that’s the reason she truly believes in the good inside humans. Regardless of Harvey being a witch, he’s still human and that’s good enough reason for her to accept the rest of humanity. In contradiction, Witches may be the worst thing to walk this earth, their isolation is nothing but a curse, by believing that they are above the humans, they put themselves on a pedestal that’s too high for anyone to reach, until they ended up not living to the standards they set. They could stand to learn few things from the Humans.

Even with very little interaction, a biased point of view, maybe a even skewed, considering how little knowledge she has, Kenzie knows that Humans would not alienate children, and before regaining her memories, that’s all she was, just like Harvey, the coven manages to see the worst in them, pushing Harvey away for something that isn’t his fault. Being born with power instead of obtaining it apparently wasn’t common among Witches. Even though she can’t imagine that if the same situation was presented to Humans, that they’d do the same thing. Of course with Harvey’s natural ability to preform dark magic, the coven believed they had a valid reason for how they acted. Kenzie’s grateful for any kind of magic he preforms, as long as keeps her by his side.

Because the very first thing she remembers, is Harvey.

It was like being woken from a dream, a very bad dream, where the feeling lingers and you feel the weight of it all over your body. Except it wasn’t the dream she was feeling, it was being dragged down by the human body she’s in. She didn’t remember anything back then, a blank slate, like a child opening his eyes for the first time. She was naked and so very small, maybe six or seven in human years. She remembers seeing the surprised face of a boy who rushes to take his jacket off and cover her. His face so close and the burn under his eye visible from every angle. She was clueless, doesn’t know her name or where she was, or who was he. It seemed to annoy him a bit before he leads her inside and as they walk through the woods, she notices for the first time how numb she really is. The pain feels like its being experienced through someone else’s body. Which, when she thinks back, thats exactly what it was, what it is now. She feels pain like it’s not being afflicted on her body, on her real body.

The rest gets a little fuzzy, she hears Harvey fighting with someone while she’s up in his room, she hears a loud thud, maybe he was hurt or he hurt someone, then the rushing footsteps towards her and she panics. Walking back til she hits the wall and when the door opens, she meets Silver for the first time, much shorter than Harvey who’s one step behind. He barges in to stand between Silver and Kenzie and with his hack to her, the shouting continues. She hears him say something about her. But she truly can’t remember no matter how hard she tires. Then when Silver in out of the room he turns to her with a child-like smile and gets some of his clothes out for her. He sits her down and runs his fingers through her hair as he talks, letting her know that she’s his little sister now and he’ll always stay with her. She doesn’t say a word, just nods when he states something that requires acknowledgement and smiles back because he was too beautiful not to smile to.

The car stops and Kenzie is pulled out of her trance, she looks to Harvey first, who’s getting out of the car, then she turns to see where they are. There’s no main road anymore, they’re parked by a trail in the woods, it doesn’t look as thick as the North Maine Woods but she can see the trees get closer and closer off from three different directions. When she’s out of the car, the air is chilly, she figures it must extremely cold because Harvey is shivering, he holds her bag in one hand and extends the other towards her. She walks on the dirt road to him to take his hand and feels how cold he is. They start walking in a random direction it seems. The trail slowly disappearing and the woods getting thicker the deeper they go. The woods have a very different look here, the trees are skinny and tall, growing very closely together, the ground is more even, but filled with fallen leaves and branches. There’s a general grey tone all around the woods, and when she looks up it’s hard to see the sky, even without leaves, the trees are too tall and too entwined to give a clear view of the sky. She hears the crackling beneath her feet as she walks behind Harvey, his heavy boots somehow not making a sound as loud as her bare feet. She feels him pull her to walk faster whenever she gets distracted and she laughs to herself and it gets a smile out of him.

“It’s gonna be just like before...even better.” He looks at their hands and then at her. “Just me and you.”

Her smile grows wider, knowing she got her answer, and she starts rushing, walking ahead and pulling him with her. There’s no coven, no witches or humans for that matter. It’s just them, and at that she can’t control her laughter anymore. Hearing it echo in the woods, and the birds answering her, chirping loud, like they understand.

Not long after, they reach a house, more of a mansion really, standing large between the trees. The white paint seemingly old and coming off, when Kenzie takes her surroundings in, she notices the skulls of animals hanging off the trees around the house, the same trees would have markings of witchcraft, many of them she recognizes from studying Harvey’s books. They’re for a barrier, for protection, some to call on the magic of the land, and some she doesn’t know. The roof of the house is too dark that she doesn’t notice the flock of crows standing on it until they fly off. Probably Harvey’s doing, he uses them to keep an eye on the place when he’s not around. The grim feeling around the house somehow feels so familiar. Maybe a little like home, like their old room. As Harvey walks ahead of her and she watches him enter the barrier, she comes to the conclusion that it all feels like Harvey. This is his magic, his print over everything. And it feels like shes being wrapped in a blanket that’s all her brother.

She runs after him, making it to the front steps where he has the door open, he drops her duffle by the door and throws his keys on the table near by. Something like an invisible force rushes at her, she feels it as soon as she enters the house. It’s very hard to recognize, it’s definitely not Harvey’s magic, not anyone she knows, and it feels like its coming from within the house. That’s not something witches can do just by preforming magic in one place.

“It was a coven.” She murmurs to herself.

Harvey smirks at her “You can tell, huh?”

Kenzie peaks her head around him to see the inside of the house, it’s mostly empty, for such a large space she thought there would be more furniture. It’s a wide open space with a couch and stand with a TV on it, there’s a coffee table jammed between them, old, empty bottles of beer and other drinks placed on it, along with a full ashtray and a lighter. The stairs are wide and rotten, but next to them there’s a huge piles of books, three different stacks and it gets Kenzie thinking if those are the same ones he had back in the coven. On the other corner there are two doors, one on each wall. Harvey heads for one of them and goes in, leaving Kenzie standing in the middle of the living room with the echo of every noise. The house is so very old, much older than the house of their old coven, which is surprising. It smells like wet wood and smokes, and a lot of blood. The last one wouldn’t be picked up by any human, it’s just something demons can smell distinctly.

When she follows into the room she sees that it’s a master bedroom, it’s fairly big, with a mattress in the middle of the floor, a lamp next to it and a bag with his clothes in it. There’s one corner with small pile of books, some are open and on the floor, next to them is another ashtray, emptier than the one in the living room. The two windows on the same wall are the only incoming light during the day. There’s an open door inside that leads to a bathroom. Harvey is sitting on the mattress, taking his shoes off and throwing them to the corner next to his bag, then putting on a different one when he looks up at her, waiting. Maybe her expression indicates that she wants to say something.

He doesn’t say anything though. Gets up and walks past her out of the room. Never curious enough to ask anything. Never clear enough to know what he thinks. Once again she follows him through the second door and it’s the kitchen. Somehow it’s the best part of the house so far. The design, not the state of it. The dinning table in the middle has four chairs and three different kinds of whiskey bottles. Next to the sink there’re some more beer bottles, probably empty. The fridge is small and dirty-white on the outside. She watches Harvey open it and get a beer out, not sparing her a glance. She becomes very aware of the cold wood underneath her feet and the stale air around her.

Harvey walks to her with a lopsided smile, cracks the bottle open and places a kiss on her temple. “I gotta go do something. I’ll be back.” And he’s out of the kitchen.

Kenzie feels like a child again, like she’s afraid of being left alone. She runs after him and hears something coming from the bedroom. She wants to go with him, that’s her first thought, but it would the dumbest thing to say it aloud because she knows the answer. She knows if he needs her he’ll take her. As soon as she enters the room she runs to him and wraps her arms around him. Her face buried in his chest so he wouldn’t read her like one of his books. She feels his arms come up to hold her close.

“We’ll start a new life here, my sweet girl. No one to come between us, nothing to be afraid of anymore.” He pets her hair and lets her stay in his arms for a little longer. Realizing she’s not over the shock yet.

She wants to say “_I was never afraid for me. But I’m always terrified that someone will hurt you.”_ But she can’t, so she tightens her grip around him for a second before slowly letting go and looking up, meeting his eyes, seeing the smile reach beyond just his lips.

He lets her go and goes to his bag to grab a heavy jacket. “Get your stuff in here and—“ He looks at her after he’s done “Don’t leave the house, Kenzie.”

She nods and looks at the mattress. “We’ll be staying here?” She asks.

“Home sweet home.” He remarks. But sees how her face is dull, refusing to really look at him. He walks up to her. Doesn’t have to ask, just looks down, staring through her almost.

“It’s just...It’s fine, it doesn’t matter.” She crosses her arms and shifts her weight from one foot to another.

“Spit it out.” He demands.

She looks away again. “It’s barely a place to live... for you I mean. It doesn’t matter either way for me. But don’t you need certain things to really live here.” She wasn’t waiting for an answer, but she figures she’ll get one regardless.

“What are you? The fuckin expert on human living conditions now?” He mocks, pushing his hair out of his face. “Wanna go back to the coven?” He gets closer to her, lifting her chin to make her look him in the eye. “Or maybe you really enjoyed fuckin around with that junkie?”

She jerks away, stepping away from him. “No! I just meant—“ she wants to hide from him, doesn’t want him to look at like she doesn’t exist. “I thought you had a job or something since you came to live with the Humans... I wasn’t sure what to think.”

“You seem pretty sure to me.” His face is serious enough to tell her that she shouldn’t push it. “At least I don’t need to sleep with anyone to have a place to stay.” He walks to her again and smacks the wall just inches away from her head. “Look at me!” He yells.

She obeys, lifting her head to look him in the eye. “It was just a comment, Harvey.”

“I don’t wanna hear shit from you anymore, I came back for you!” Whatever was said before, she knew he didn’t get it all out. He gets more pissed every time he remembers, he can’t let it go “And what do I get? You’re gone, you live with some dick for barely two days and you wanna judge?” He slams the wall again and she flinches.

“I...” her mouth opens and closes few times before she sees that as mad as he is, his eye tell a different story. He’s hurt maybe, feels abandoned by the fact that she didn’t come to him first. And it seems fair enough, they both messed up. But she feels more responsible because it’s her job. The only reason she was even summoned, is to be by his side.

His loud breathing is the only sound in the room. He takes a step back “Don’t fuckin leave, Kenzie, I mean it. If you do, don’t ever come back.” He sees how the tears rush to her eyes with his statement but he walks out nonetheless. Leaving her so broken that it doesn’t matter if he turns around or not. He just grabs his keys and slams the door shut behind him.

After it becomes apparent that Harvey isn’t planning on coming back anytime soon, Kenzie tries to distract herself. At this point, she’s very used to being left alone for long stretches of time, but this was different. For one, she made Harvey seriously mad, she can honestly say that she’s pushed him to reach this level of anger once or twice, but that’s not the kid of thing that gets easier with practice. There’s nothing she can do now, it happened, it’s done. Even witches can’t change the past. So she stays up waiting, she scans some of his books, sitting by the stairs for hours, looking through everything, then goes into the kitchen to see if there’s any food for Harvey, it’s clear there isn’t any. She cleans a little, throwing about four bags on trash, clearing all the empty bottles and plastic paper plates. She moves on to the living room and it turns out to be easier to handle than the kitchen. As she cleans around the TV stand she spots an opening in the wall behind it, there’s a punch of bricks that don’t really match the wooden wall. She pushes the TV along with the stand to the side to clear a path and she stands back to see the old fireplace. Not having been used in many years, it collected a lot of dust, layers that are few inches thick, along with few spider webs that cover most of it. In a big cold house like this, a fireplace might come in handy for Harvey, so she wonders why he covered it. She gets into cleaning it next, struggling to find a broom anywhere, she ends up finding one in the kitchen closet, she sweeps everything around and inside the fireplace, creating a cloud of dust in the process.

She explores the upstairs after that, the floor boards creaking as she walks. She finds the bathroom first, an old claw foot bathtub, in the very middle of the floor and few of Harvey’s clothes on the floor. There’s a total of five rooms upstairs, three very large and two small ones. Not furnished entirely, there’s a vanity set in one and two beds with no mattress in another, one has a closet and table with a lamp on it, one has a large bed with a worn down mattress, the last one only had a rocking chair and torn wall paper. She finds a storage closet that can be another small room if you’re desperate, with flickering light hanging from the wall.

She goes back downstairs, throwing herself on the mattress. Maybe Harvey doesn’t plan on coming home at all tonight. She tries to think of what she would say to him if he came back still angry. But that’s not very likely, once he finished whatever he needed to do, he headed to a bar to drink away his anger. Whenever he does come back, she’d be forgiven by then. Maybe not forgiven, but he’ll have moved past his anger that they won’t mention any of this again. She gets up to take her dress off and slips one of Harvey’s shirts on, they’d be more comfortable to sleep in, and she doesn’t really own much clothes other than the few dresses she stole from the family that took her in before she ran away. She slides under the comforter and faces the window, seeing the moonlight sneak between the trees as she tries to sleep.

Demons don’t dream, there are many thing she’s able to do now in this human body, and more that she’s not able to, but dreaming seems to be reserved for souls. So as much as she likes sleeping, it’s like dying for a period of time.

She wakes up with the sunrise, it’s a little before 8 a.m and her first instinct is to turn over to see if Harvey is there. But the bed is empty. She buries her head in the pillow and kicks the mattress like a child throwing a tantrum. In this moment she feels like a child, like her parents are gone and she doesn’t know if they’re coming even if she really does know that they’ll come back. And it’s so ridiculously ridiculous.

Between her little trips to consciousness, she hears little clicks that are far away, and she doesn’t want to really wake up and investigate. The barrier won’t let anyone inside, whatever was making the noise, had to be the house, she thinks that maybe there are rats in the walls. Nothing serious enough for her to get up.

After that she sleeps for a while, not waking up anymore except by the very little sun seeping through the windows. She opens her eyes to be mad at the fact that there’re no curtains and when she closes them again she feels the sudden weight pressed behind her. A hand is wrapped around her middle and she doesn’t have to look to know it’s Harvey. She places her hand on top on his and hears the small hiccup coming from him. He has his face buried between her neck and shoulder. Clearly not wanting to be seen. And when he talks, she understands why.

“I love you so much, you know that right?”

He’s crying, may have been for a while. She doesn’t know how long he’s been home, but he doesn’t seem so drunk, she can smell the alcohol, but he’s not slurring, maybe he came and slept on the couch for a little bit before coming to bed. She thinks about the clicking noise she heard, suddenly realizing it was his lighter.

“I know, I really do.” She wants to turn but he wont let her, just holds her as she is, his fingers curling and uncurling over her tummy like he’s scratching it.

“You can’t leave me... I won’t live without you.” He swallows his tears but his chest heaves, like a child crying for his mother.

When Harvey gets like this, Kenzie knows it’s best to let him get everything out. Whenever he had nightmares before, he would hold her just like this and cry for hours. Wouldn’t say what the nightmares are about, she thinks it’s about his burn, or maybe about being abandoned by his family. She doesn’t know, he never talked about where he came from or why he’s alone. She doesn’t say anything to him usually, she waits until he’s done and fallen asleep before drifting off herself. But this isn’t the same, he’s not crying about his family or his pain, he’s broken because he imagined a life without her and it was too much to bare, because he actually lived it and god knows what he went through to make him reach this point.

“I was made to be yours.” Is all she says, all he really wants to hear right now. And she feels him physically calm down with her words. He pulls her closer and she feels a kiss against her shoulder. She closes her eyes and waits for him to go to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Kenzie wakes up to the smell of Harvey’s cigarettes, she kicks the covers off and looks at him, he’s sitting next to her on the mattress with his back against the wall, he has a book in his lap and cigarette between his lips. He looks back at her and all she does is push the book away and lays her head in his lap. Instantly going back to sleep, not caring how late in the day it is.

Harvey listens to her breathe for a while, keeping his book above her head, after a while he realizes that he wasn’t reading at all, just staring at the pages. He throws the book to the side and looks at the clock, 2:38 p.m and Kenzie still hasn’t woken up. He thinks about waking her then quickly dismisses the idea, he doesn’t need her for anything today. He lights another cigarette and runs his fingers through Kenzie’s hair, not that there’s much hair left, he still likes it better this way. Some time passes while he just sits like that, he tries to read again and goes through few pages before he hears the front door open. He places his book face down on the mattress and looks at the bedroom door. The footsteps get closer until there’s one knock against his door and then it’s open.

Kenzie opens her eyes when she hears the loud creaking of he door. Looking straight ahead and feeling Harvey’s hand on her head. She sees a tall woman with snow-white skin and blond hair that touches her shoulders. She stands by the door frame and stares. Kenzie wants to say something when the lady beats her to it.

“Wanna explain?” She’s talking to Harvey.

Harvey doesn’t know that Kenzie woke up so his voice is lower than the lady when he speaks. “This? Relax Kathy, it’s my little sister.”

“No.” Kathy answers, walking closer. “About your text.” She adds.

“Oh.” He understands what she meant. He looks down and gently starts to lift her head but she sits and rubs her eyes. “Did I wake you?” He asks.

She shakes her head and continues to stare at Kathy. She definitely doesn’t like that she can just waltz into their bedroom like she owns the place but it’s clear she’s a human, there’s no vail around her. Familiars can easily recognize a witch, there’s something like a vail surrounding them, caused by the continues use of magic. Kathy seems to want to study Kenzie as much as possible, looking her over then switching to Harvey and then to Kenzie again.

Harvey’s up on his feet and walking out with Kathy, he’s saying something to her that Kenzie can’t hear, he has an arm around her waist as he leads her out. Kenzie frowns and seriously considers going after them. She wants to shake the idea out but she gets up to leave the room anyway. She finds the living room empty, their voices coming from the kitchen, she walks very carefully towards the door, not wanting to make a sound and as she stands close to the door she hears Harvey’s voice.

“Ya, she’s gonna live with me, there was no other choice, Kenzie doesn’t leave my side, that’s not about to change now.” His voice is bored, like maybe he’s not in the mood to explain himself or have this conversation.

“A heads up would’ve been nice.” Kathy all but hisses.

“Heads up.” He answers sarcastically.

Kenzie opens the door and peaks her head in, watching how Harvey is sitting on the chair lazily and his eyes are trained on her as soon as she’s visible. Kathy turns as well, her arms previously crossed, are brought down to her sides. She gives a smile and glances at Harvey.

“I’m gonna go check the shower head.” She states and walks towards the door, waiting for Kenzie to step aside.

Kenzie stands by the door silently, weight shifting from one foot to the other.

Harvey gets up. “I need to do a binding spell on you.” He scratches his head and starts walking to her. She looks up at him but he just grabs her hand and drags her out with him. She stumbles a little as she follows silently. They head to their bedroom, Harvey letting go of her hand then crouching on the floor near the edge of the mattress. He has her back to Kenzie so she walks closer to see what he’s doing, he’s pulling the wooden floor boards out, two of them to be exact and takes a box out.

Kenzie sees the worn down edges and engraving from every angle and realizes it’s the same box that holds some of Harvey’s darker magic spells. She doesn’t ask what kind of binding spell he’s going to do, because there’s a variety, and specifically why. She’s worried about something else entirely.

“Umm... do you think we should do this with a human around?” She asks when he he starts looking through the box.

He doesn’t look up at her and pulls a small vile with what looks like blood inside. He puts the box on the side and stands up, eyeing her for a quick second “ Turn.” He orders.

She glances at the door, worrying if Kathy might come back. But she slips out of Harvey’s shirt that she has on and the same time it drops to the floor, she’s right there next to it, a little black cat with bright grey, almost white eyes. Harvey crouches down and taps his thigh and she hurries towards him. She looks up as he opens the vile and tilts it to leave few drops falling on Kenzie’s forehead, her fur soaking it.

He places his thumb over where the blood is “Et oculos meos in tenebris.” His eyes turn entirely white, no pupil or ires, just one solid color. He stares ahead into nothing and his hand in lifted from Kenzie’s small forehead.

She looks up at him and waits. Not daring to move. She can feel the magic rushing into her. It’s almost overwhelming, it’s more magic than she’s used to. But it’s coming from Harvey and whatever kind of binding he wants to do, requires her to be able to handle this, it’s the essence of her role as his Familiar. In one blink his eyes turn back to normal. And she waits for her order to change back to her human form. He looks down at her for a quick second before ignoring her in favor of hiding his box in the floor again. As he shoves the boards down he hears her turn back human. She stands still behind him, clearly wanting to ask what he did.

“You can be my eyes now.” Is his explanation. He stands up and walks past her. “Put some clothes on.” He says as he closes the door behind him.

Fair enough, instead of using just normal animals while he was alone, she can actually do her job now. She can act as his eyes wherever he sends her on a mission or they’re separated. Kenzie puts one of her dresses on, a shorter one with uneven ends and loose fitted like the rest with prints of small daisies. There’s no mirror so she has no clue what her hair looks like, she runs her fingers through it and gets out of the room. The living room is empty and she can’t hear any noise near by. The stairs shake and it draws her attention to them to find Harvey heading down with a jacket and shoes on. He throws a smile her way. Kathy is shortly behind. Strolling down and smiling wide at Kenzie.

When he reaches the front door he grabs his keys. “I have to be somewhere, my love. Be good while I’m gone.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Coming from a girl who bathes with rubber ducks.” He smirks.

She squints, not playing into his trap, and watches Kathy walk towards her.

“Kathy’ll be here for a while to fix the shower.” He adds and he’s out the door.

Kathy’s smile is starting to annoy her. She looks at the tall woman and doesn’t say anything. But Kathy seems to want to talk. She extends her hand. “I’m Kathy, as you guessed.”

Kenzie shakes her hand and pulls away quickly. “McKenzie.”

“Harvey’s sister.” Kathy adds. Not a question but not a statement either.

Kenzie nods and they stand in silence for a while.

“Oh, I’m the landlord by the way. I guess you wouldn’t know that.” She chirps in. “Harvey texted me about the broken shower head.”

“You... own this place?” Kenzie does a good job in hiding her shock. This place was definitely a coven, this amount of magic doesn’t just resinate here by itself. Why would a human own the house now.

“Ya” she seems extremely excited that Kenzie mentioned it. “It used to belong to my great great great grandparents and it was passed on in the family. As you can see it hasn’t been lived in recently. My parents didn’t wanna be so far away from civilization and so close to the Devil’s Tramping Ground so it hasn’t been used in two generations.” She watches Kenzie closely to see if she should continue.

“The Devil’s Tramping Ground?” Kenzie asks. It was the only thing that very much stood out in the conversation.

Kathy laughs. “Oh this is fun.” She takes Kenzie’s hand and leads her to the couch to sit down. Knees touching and Kenzie doesn’t like the close proximity. But Kathy starts talking again. “So it’s a haunting story but a lot of people take it seriously. There’s a spot near here, a wide circle where no trees grow, nothing really grows. It’s believed that it’s because the Devil likes to come out when it’s dark. Some say they see his eyes glowing in the forest. So as you can see, not many people wanna come by, let alone live here.”

Kenzie actually smiles. Not because it’s a funny story. Well, it’s also funny, because she can say first hand that the Devil never left hell. But it actually just means that there’s that much more magic around her that she can use. That’s why Harvey chose this place. The glowing eyes humans see, and the reason there’s no growth in that area is actually due to many witches summoning their Familiar in one place. It’s not the logical explanation humans want to hear but it’s more logical than the Devil coming up to the surface to trample.

Kathy titles her head. “Not scary enough for ya?” She jokes.

Kenzie shrugs. “It’s just a story right?”

There’s something that Kathy wants to say, Kenzie can be very dense when it comes to Human terminology and traditions but if one thing she’s good at, is reading people. That’s why she doesn’t like how Harvey can hide everything so easily. Humans are very easy to read, they give off such a clear aura in every situation. Kathy seems to be hiding something, and she really wants to get it out. They sit in silence for a short time before Kathy’s happy voice is heard again.

“So where were you before?” She asks.

“Before?” Kenzie repeats. Puzzled a little.

“Before you came here, silly.” She finishes her question. And her hand gently pushes at Kenzie’s exposed knee. A human gesture that Kenzie isn’t all that knowledgeable about but knows that her and Kathy aren’t friends or even close enough that Kathy can be doing this.

She looks at where Kathy’s hand was against her knee and looks up again. “Home... our old home.”

“Where was that?” Kathy leans back on the couch and seems to really be interested now.

“Maine.” Kenzie wishes she didn’t answer as soon as the word is out of her mouth. If Harvey didn’t mention any of this, she sure as hell shouldn’t.

Kathy nods few times with the same smile plastered on her face. Kenzie can tell that she’s trying to make herself approachable. Could be that she wants to be friendly as most humans do, they want to come off polite. But that’s not what Kathy is doing. There’s something a little unsettling about her smile. Maybe because she’s overdoing it.

“I really wanted to ask this but... I just don’t wanna overstep.”

Well, if you have to say it...

Kathy continues when she doesn’t get an objection. “Harvey’s eye...” It’s not a question, or if it is, it’s left unfinished.

“We don’t talk about that.” Kenzie can be firm when It comes to keeping Harvey’s secrets.

“Sorry... was it is accident?”

“Well, it’s not like he wanted to mutilate himself.”

Kathy’s lips are pressed in a thin line as she thinks of her next answer.

“So you can fix the shower?” Kenzie finally talks.

“Oh! Damn, ya.” She spurts into action, getting up and adjusting her shirt before walking off to the stairs.

Kenzie sits around in silence. There’s nothing for her to do. Except think. She thinks about how Harvey found this place. Thinks about reminding him to buy food or she can go do that for him. As she stares at the fireplace she thinks about asking Kathy for any kind of gasoline to ignite it. And for the most part she thinks about what life would look like here. Will it be like this everyday? Harvey used to disappear for long periods of time but it wasn’t everyday. Everyday he was home he would spend with her. They would go into the woods and do nothing, just watch the trees get blown by the wind. They’d stay inside for hours and he’d read to her. The time passing much quicker than she ever thought, his voice cracking after reading for so long. But he’d still pick up another book and start over. Sometimes they’d lay down on their bed and he’d drink more than he can take and she’d drink with him. Never really getting drunk but it does feel nice, being loose like her brain stopped working and she doesn’t have to think about anything other than this moment. Then Harvey would always stay up all night telling her his lame jokes and stories but she’d always ask for the story of how they met. Being the most unclear memory she has, she loved hearing it over and over.

_“If I had a soulmate, I’d be a living hell. I refuse to live in a world where my life is ruled by the existence of someone I never met.” Harvey looks over to Kenzie lying next to him on the bed and smiles. “Little over the top.” He jokes._

_“What’s a soulmate?” She asks._

_He places the book face down on his chest. “We’ll, there are many definitions and translations but if I had to pick one, in The Symposium, Plato has Aristophanes present a story about soulmates. Aristophanes believed that humans originally had four arms, four legs, and a single head made of two faces.” He sighs and continues “It is said that humans had great strength at the time and threatened to conquer the gods. The gods then wanted to destroy the humans with lightning as they had done with the Titans, but then they would lose the tributes given to the gods by humans. And they really loved being worshipped. Zeus had this creative solution, by splitting humans in half as punishment for humanity's pride and doubling the number of humans who would give tribute to the gods. These split humans were in utter misery to the point where they would not eat and end up dead so Apollo sews them up and each human would then only have one set of genitalia and would forever long for their other half. It is said that when the two find each other, there is an unspoken understanding of one another, that they feel unified and would lie with each other in unity and would know no greater joy than that.”_

_He probs himself on his elbow to see her reaction._

_“Have you met yours?” She questions with the smallest frown._

_“Ya.” He smiles wide. “Long time ago.”_

_Kenzie seems interested in that. “When?”_

_“You can be really dense sometimes, smaller sister.” He lyes back down and picks up the book. “Let’s finish this.”_

Kenzie’s is drawn to the sound of the footsteps rushing down the stairs. She looks over to see Kathy with a wet shirt and soaked hair. She wipes her eyes again and smiles at Kenzie.

“It’s definitely working now.” She walks to a Kenzie while pulling her wet shirt away from her body. “So this is awkward, but do you have a shirt I can borrow?” She has an apologetic smile on, she didn’t want to ask but with this weather it’s not a good idea to walk outside with a wet shirt on.

Kenzie just shakes her head. “I don’t really own any shirts.” She admits.

Kathy’s mouth is in the shape of a small O. “Then... I’ll just take one of Harvey’s shirts.” She walks to the bedroom and enters.

There it is again, she’s too comfortable in someone else’s room. Kenzie understands it’s Kathy’s house but she doesn’t live here and going through other people’s things is rude as far as human’s concern. Kenzie gets up to go after her and Kathy already had her shirt off while she looks in Harvey’s duffle.

“You think I lied. I can tell. I really don’t own much clothes.” Kenzie stands by the door frame.

Kathy gives her a glance. “It’s cool. I didn’t think you’re lying.”

Kenzie sighs. She’s lying again. Do humans believe they’re so convincing.

Kathy sighs and leaves the bag, moving to Kenzie’s bag but Kenzie stops her. “That’s mine.”

“Oh.” She stands straight. “You’re staying here?”

“I thought Harvey told you?”

“Ya... no, I mean you’re staying in his room?”

Kenzie just nods.

“And you sleep here too?” She tilts her head.

Kenzie nods again. Where is this heading.

“We always shared a room.”

“There’s plenty of rooms here. You can pick any one of them.” Kathy avoids looking at Kenzie, picking up any shirt and pulling it over her head.

“I don’t mind.” Kenzie shrugs.

“And you said you’re his sister?” Kathy’s tone is still light and joking.

Kenzie stares at her for a while. Not believing the act she’s putting on. This is not about magic, Kathy isn’t asking because she knows Kenzie isn’t really related to Harvey and she’s his Familiar. But there’s no other reason Kenzie can think off. Her doubt needs to have some basis and the fact that Kenzie can’t pin it down is a little frustrating.

“You guys just don’t look alike.” Kathy adds and picks up her wet shirt from the floor. “And he never really mentioned you before.” Her mouth twists to the side like she’s thinking about something deeply. “Nine months is a long time to keep something like this a secret.” She seems to be waiting for an answer.

Kenzie doesn’t care if Harvey talks about her or not. She’s more interested in why the landlord needs to know all these information about who’s related to who. Not to mention Harvey never lied about their relationship. She’s always been his sister, he never denied having one and he never told people otherwise. He’d introduce her as his sister before saying she’s his Familiar. Kenzie just shrugs. “I don’t know, he’s secretive. Not the sharing type.”

Kathy’s smile falters a little and she nods. “It’s just funny how you show up out of the blue. It’s like you didn’t really exist before.”

“I didn’t show up.” If Kenzie’s anger is obvious, then good. “He came to get me.” She walks a step closer. “Why do I have to explain anything to you?” Out of all the Humans Kenzie met, which isn’t much, Kathy is her least favorite.

“I’m just trying to understand, don’t bite my head off.” She puts her hands out in mock surrender. She chuckles and crosses her arms. “I just wanna know who’s staying in my house.”

The house isn’t worth this shit. If there’s one thing Kenzie hates more than liars, are lairs who get caught and still won’t admit it.

“I’m Harvey’s little sister.” She speaks clearly and it’s like the idea comes to her in bang, being shoved in her brain. “He couldn’t take me with him because I wasn’t eighteen but I ran away and he came to find me. I hated our home as much as he did so instead of taking me back, he’s gonna keep me with him until I’m eighteen and I can decide what I want. And what I want is to stay with him. Regardless of how old I am.”

Taking the witchcraft out, that’s exactly what the story is so she’s not lying.

Kathy seems to feel bad for pushing but she doesn’t say anything. Her face can’t seem to settle on one expression. She’s maybe sorry, a little sad about their story, definitely uncomfortable with her accusations. She just nods and gives her usual smile, but it’s gone quicker this time. “Ok. I’m gonna head out now. Tell Harvey thanks for the shirt.”

Harvey comes home before sunset, he was actually home in a short period of time. Kenzie hears the front door open when she’s sitting watching TV on the old couch. Harvey has a huge smile plastered on his face and a rectangle bag in his hand. He slams the door shut with his foot and turns to Kenzie. She doesn’t have time to say anything because he all but runs to her and throws himself on the couch, his face hiding in her stomach.

“God, I missed you!”

She laughs and pushes his hair out of his face but she still can’t see him. “That tickles.” The air leaves her lungs in one go when he rubs his face over her stomach to tickle her more.

“Are you high?” She giggles and lifts his face up.

“A little.” He sighs and turns to lay his head in her lap and look up at her. “I’m hungry.”

“We have no food. We need a trip to town.” She strokes his hair and he keeps smiling. And she can’t look away because he has the most beautiful smile she’s ever seen.

“You can go tomorrow.” His eyes close, seemingly enjoying the fingers running in his hair and the quiet background noise of the TV.

Kenzie looks over to the bag he brought with him, left by the foot of the coffee table then she looks down at Harvey again. “I might have said something to Kathy that I shouldn’t.” She says softly.

Harvey doesn’t open his eyes. Just hums to acknowledge that he heard her.

“She asked where we were before and I just answered. I don’t know how much you told her.” Her fingers lightly run over his cheek where his burn is.

“That’s fine.” He takes a deep breath. “She can be nosy.” He sits up and ruffles his hair. Reaching over to the bag and places it on Kenzie’s lap. “For you, my sweet girl.”

Kenzie looks at the bag for a minute before opening it and seeing a flat box with the picture of a chess board and the small palm sized box with a picture of a phone on it. She pulls them out and now it’s her turn smile like an idiot. “We can play? It’s been so long.” She throws herself at Harvey and wraps her arms around his neck.

“Ya, kinda figured.” He keeps his hand on her back and waits for her to get all her excitement out. “The phone is also exciting because I need to be able to contact you.” He jokes as she pulls away.

She nods and start opening the chess board. Not really listening, looking like a little girl on Christmas day opening her gifts.

Harvey takes off his shoes and jacket. He stands up to run over to the kitchen and grab a a six pack before going back to get comfortable on the couch. Kenzie has the board set up in the middle of the couch. “No cheating, Harvey, I will kick your ass if you do.” She wants to be serious but her smile gives her away.

The first game is over too soon and it makes Harvey frustrated. He goes through three beers before it’s done. It makes Kenzie unable to control her laughter. She steals one of his beers and that gets Harvey to realize that he’s not getting any drunker so he replaces the beer with a whiskey bottle half empty. He starts drinking with the second game. Kenzie clearly tells Harvey she’ll win in six moves, he does believe her but makes a show of saying he’s not going down easy. The fact that he’s getting drunk doesn’t help the part of his brain that does all the strategic planning but Kenzie seems to be having so much fun regardless. He pushes Kenzie to drink a glass or two knowing full well it won’t get her drunk but it’ll slow her down. She always says she likes it when she doesn’t have to think all the time.

Three fast games and a slow one later, there’s more giggling going on than actual playing. The board is disregarded on the coffee table and Harvey is too deep in his stories, especially with Kenzie looking at him with stars in her eyes. Soon after, they’re laying upside-down on the couch and making a game of tying to read the subtitles on the TV.

“I don’t think you’re qualified.” Kenzie’s laugh echos loudly throughout the house.

“Am too.” He sounds like a child.

“Movies are so much fun. Didn’t know how many things human invented that can be so... fun!”

“You said that.” He chuckles and sits up right. Rubbing his eyes and grabbing the bottle only to find it empty. “Fuck.” He slouches down on the couch next to Kenzie. Rubbing her stomach and watching the two girls on TV get chased around by a masked killer who never seems to run but still catches up.

“You never wish you got to live with them?” She lifts her head for a second to glance at him then go back to watching the TV upside-down.

“It’s like you just met me.” His voice is low and relaxed. “They’re selfish and cruel, don’t you know?”

“The coven has been more awful to you than any human I met.”

“Us.” He leans down to look her in the eye. “They all but tortured us. But your point is still invalid.” He sighs and goes back to watching the TV.

She sits up next to him, facing away from the screen. “If the humans are anything like you then...” she shrugs “then, they’re all good in my book.”

Before Harvey can open his mouth the front door is being opened and both their attention is drawn to it. It’s Kathy, with a paper bag in one hand and her car keys in the other. She looks over at them. “I brought food.” She declares cheerfully.

Harvey pushes his hair out of his face and turns to her. “I’m starving.”

Kathy walks over and starts to unpack the food on the table with her usual smile. “I don’t know what kinda burger McKenzie likes so I just got two different ones for her.” She looks at Kenzie and places the meal in front of her.

Kenzie looks at Harvey for some kind of explanation but he seems to be ignoring her in favor of the food. Kathy seems to be talking nonstop, Kenzie isn’t listening, her brain kicks back in, the alcohol quickly gone from her system. Kathy shouldn’t be here, twice in one day might be a little overdoing it. Harvey eats his burger and one of Kenzie’s. Kenzie doesn’t involve herself in the conversation between the two. Kathy making few comments about the movie and Harvey nodding and listening. Kenzie wants to remove herself from the situation but Kathy keeps looking over at her and talking like they’re old friends.

“Not hungry?” She motions to the wrapped burger on the table.

“No.” Kenzie answers.

“Listen, so about your lack of clothes, I know I’m tall but I have so much old clothes in my garage and maybe you can stop by to pick some?” She keeps staring at Kenzie waiting for an answer.

Kenzie looks to Harvey who is still watching the TV. “Umm... I guess?”

Kathy gets up and squeezes herself between the table and Harvey’s legs who makes room for her by spreading his legs and she sits in his lap. “Did you fall asleep?” She wraps her arms around his neck.

Harvey looks up at her and his hands are on Kathy’s hips. “You can take her shopping whenever you want.” He pulls her down and gives her a quick kiss on the lips.

As Kenzie sits there watching, it becomes clear why Kathy is so involved in them. It’s not about the house, it’s about Harvey. Kenzie is the third wheel who intruded on a life that Kathy has with him. Kenzie feels uncomfortable sitting there while Kathy is being groped by her brother. She looks away, but she can’t distract herself with them so close. She gets up to leave but Kathy’s voice stops her.

“You’re not gonna stay with us?”

Harvey’s finally looking at her, but he’s clearly drunk. Kenzie shakes her head.

“Let her go.” Is all Harvey says.

Kathy watches as Kenzie disappears into the bedroom then turns her attention to Harvey. “She doesn’t like me.” She says softly.

“If she didn’t, you’d know.” He tries to pull her down again but she pushes back.

“What do you mean?”

Harvey wants to roll his eyes. “She doesn’t lie.” He states.

Kathy chuckles. “Ok. I’m sure she just feels awkward.”

“Believe what you want. She doesn’t lie.” He repeats without looking at her.

“How does that work?”

“By... not lying.” He answers sarcastically.

“Nobody just doesn’t lie. We all say little white lies here and there.”

Harvey leans back on the couch and his hands are off her body. “Did you come here to talk about my sister’s psyche? Because if we’re gonna talk about weird habits...” he lets his breath go “she sleeps a lot, and I like to get drunk and read with her for hours.”

She laughs. “Ok, I get it.” She gets up. “Lets go upstairs.”

Kenzie stays on the bed for hours. She hears Kathy’s giggle upstairs every once and a while, she seems to dial it down to start moaning instead. Even in a house as big as this, the wood wore down over the years which makes it like built-in intercom. When she gets up to grab a book from the living room, she hears footsteps right above the staircase. She stands still for a while. And so does the footsteps. She can see their shadows at the top of the stairs. She ignores them and leans down to pick something. She hears Kathy mumble something and Harvey’s laugh follows.

“I just... I want to be a part of your life.” Kathy’s voice seems hopeful.

“You’re cute honey, but I just want to play.”

Harvey sneaks into bed quietly but Kenzie’s awake. She turns to him, seeing his hair still wet. He stares back at her, waiting for a comment. When it doesn’t come he lays down with his hands behind his head.

“Kathy doesn’t like us sleeping together.” It’s the world’s funniest joke to him.

“You’re doing it to mess with her.”

“She’s so clingy, I needed an excuse to send her home.”

“If you guys are dating, why doesn’t she live here.”

“We’re not dating, she’s an easy fuck.”

“She seems to believe you are.”

“She can believe what she wants. She’s happy when I fuck her and I want her happy so we can stay here.”

Kenzie doesn’t like having a human around. As much as she likes living near them, and having Harvey allow her to interact with them, their home needs to be private. There’s so much witchcraft lying around that’s it’s not safe for anyone.

“She shouldn’t come by so much.”

“You jealous?”

She turns to face away from him. “Your magic isn’t safe for you, let alone a human.”

She can hear his smile as he moves closer to lean over here, wanting to see her face. “I’m confused, do you like her or not?”

She doesn’t look at him, continuing to stare at the windows. “I don’t know her enough to make a judgment like that.”

He rolls his eyes. “I don’t want a generic Familiar answer, I want your answer.”

Well, that’s easy. She tilts her head to face him. “I want you to be happy.”

“You think I’m happy with a human?” His eyebrows furrow.

She sighs. “I don’t know Harvey, you’re not the easiest to read.”

As if on cue, he goes stoic, few minutes pass while he just looks at her, then he holds her shoulder to force her to lay flat and his head settles on her chest.

“Happiness, is living by your side, and dying by your side.”

Harvey tells her she can’t go anywhere without shoes. So before they go into town for supplies, he calls Kathy to come take Kenzie. The two of them drive to her house in town. Long drive with Kathy’s unpopular taste in music and her loud voice talking about her life in detail. Kenzie pretends to listen most of the time, but Kathy tries to sneak questions about Harvey, Kenzie tells her the same thing every time, that it’s not her place to tell. Then Kathy talks about her job, she says she works at a night lounge, Kenzie figures that she’s trying to be modest and not say a strip club. Either way, Kenzie doesn’t care. When they reach the house, Kathy gets food for them, Kenzie says she had breakfast already, so they sit at the dinner table while Kathy eats. Then after she’s done, they go to the garage to carry three large boxes of clothes. Taking them to a Kathy’s bedroom.

Her room is very messy, pink wallpaper, a white vanity, a queen size bed that looks way to comfortable not to bounce on, and a small furry rug in the middle. It looks like it’s out of a magazine and every girl’s dream all wrapped in one. Kenzie feels a little jealous, she just wants to have a real room. They try a lot of dresses because it’s Kenzie’s favorite and Kathy keeps trying to get her into any sort of pants, jeans, shorts, rompers, but no. Dresses all the way. Flowery, flowing, girly dresses. She gets few old jewelry, blue rocks and chokers and small silver rings. Kathy tells her they have to go to a real store for shoes because there’s probably a two size difference between them.

They drive to the local thrift store while it rains, Kenzie in large flip flops she got from Kathy. It’s a quick in-and-out because Kenzie insists on just one shoe. Knowing she’s not wearing them unless she goes into town but she doesn’t say that a loud. She picks one black biker boot with laces and pulls Kathy out because the woman loves to shop.

“Ok this is not private at all so you have to answer!” Kathy declares as they get closer to the woods. “What’s with all the books all over the house, I told the man I’d get him a library but he refused.”

Kenzie finds talking about this side of Harvey fun. “I don’t know, he’s always been so hungry for more...of everything. He wants to learn and... he has a system.” She smiles. “The mess isn’t really a mess.”

“Are you like him? Book nerd?”

“He made me one.” She jokes. Rubbing her knees as she looks over at Kathy. “He used to read to me since I can barely remember. I think he enjoys reading to someone.”

“So y’all are just too smart for this place.” She does this southern accent that makes Kenzie laugh.

They sit at a booth with red leather and dark tables, the place is very nice, so much lights hanging from the ceiling, black and white art on the wall, and the view over the city is too wonderful not to stare. There’s a second floor with tables and chairs and a large bar area. Harvey lets Kenzie sit next to him as they face the glass wall and see the cars passing.

“People die.”

“Because you kill them, Harvey.”

Harvey wants to roll his eyes but he keeps scanning the menu for what he likes. “The drinks are too soft here.”

Kenzie taps him on the chest. “Don’t change the subject. Harvey, listen, you don’t need to hurt any of the humans.”

“I’m actually jealous, maybe I shouldn’t have brought you to live here.” He wraps his hand around her shoulder and relaxes.

“They live such fulfilled lives.” She argues and takes the menu from him.

“They live fake lives. They lie and steal and kill.”

“You just described yourself.” She raises a brow at him.

He can’t help a chuckle. “Fair. I’m not human though.”

Harvey disregards his menu and leans closer to the table, shoulder pressed against Kenzie’s. “Alright, look there.” He point discretely towards the couple in the center of the restaurant, sitting across from each other with wine glasses between them. The girl has beautiful long brown hair and a velvet purple dress that clings to her figure.The man is wearing a navy suit and his hair is slicked back. They look completely lost in each other. The girl smiling and holding the man’s hand over the table.

Kenzie nods and waits. Harvey scratches his forehead and looks at her face like she should know what she’s looking at. He gives up and asks. “What do you see?”

Her eyes narrow in confusion. “A couple having dinner.”

“What else?” He gestures towards them. Egging her to keep looking. To observe something only he can see apparently. She just shakes her head. Knowing any answer she’d give wouldn’t be what he’s looking for.

“Do you see the ring on her finger? And the lack of one on his?”

She doesn’t turns to him. “That doesn’t mean anything, maybe he lost it.”

“So naive.” He turns his body so he’s facing Kenzie more. “She’s clearly cheating. And what’s worse is that she thinks we’re all too dumb to notice.”

“If she’s really cheating then she’d take her ring off.” Kenzie might be getting frustrated.

“Because she’ll forget to put it back on. Married people are so used to wearing their ring, that they never take it off. If they do, they’ll forget they took it off in the first place. Do you know how many stupid people have been caught because they took their ring off?”

“Sounds fake.” She crosses her arms. “Not every human is bad. You don’t have to prove that they’re all doing something evil. If you really wanna see evil, you should live in Hell for a while.”

That gets a laugh out of him. “We passed a homeless man on the way here. Did you notice?”

The sudden change of the subject makes her think for a while before answering. “Yeah...”

He nods, the same half smile still on his lips. “Why is he homeless?”

“I don’t know Harvey, he has no home...”

“And how many people did we pass on the way here?”

“Is this a math problem?” She doesn’t mean to take this lightly but she’s being led blind by Harvey.

He stares at her, still waiting for an answer so she just throws her hands in the air and says “A lot.” That seems to be the right answer because Harvey nods again and looks around the restaurant.

“Chances are, all these people here saw him too. And probably a hundred more. Did it occur to anyone to take him to a shelter. Better yet, did you see anyone stop to give him money?” His smile fades, watching her think about what he said.

Kenzie feels like Harvey is judging the humans based on what’s on the surface. This can’t be their true measure. Whether they help a stranger or not. There’s a bigger picture, a deeper meaning she’s missing and he’s not telling her.

Harvey leans back in his seat and picks up the menu again.

“That can’t be it. I mean, I’ve done worse things and you don’t hate me.”

“Listen, sorry that Hell was so awful, but most of us don’t have the luxury of comparing. We’re born here, we live here, and we die here. We don’t have a higher worse to compare to. But it doesn’t make us any less... disgusting. Humans are still selfish and horrible and willing to do anything to get what they want. I’m not saying I’m any better, I just adapted in order to survive.”

The conflict happening inside Harvey must be Hell. He truly believes he’s not a human, as all witches do, but he knows how similar he is to Humans. He knows he took the worst of each side, to put up a wall that no one will be able to break. It takes a lot for someone like him to admit that he’s like humans, after denying it for so long. In all retrospect, he doesn’t belong to either side. The witches rejected him long ago, and the humans can never accept someone that’s not like them. He didn’t do this to himself, he was simply born and the rest was shoved at him.

“Humans are made flawed for a reason. They’re supposed to learn from their mistakes.”

Harvey just scoffs and shakes his head. “There they go down on their knees again. They pray for peace like god is magically supposed to grant it while they go kill children across the sea. And we praise them for it. Heroes, we say. Thanks for killing all those innocent people, but god forbid you do the same here, ‘cause then we’ll kill you. Talk about double standards. Who’s learning from that? Murder lives forever, and so does war.”

“Killing in the name of peace. World’s greatest joke.” She admits.

“A flaw is... my overprotective tendencies, my control issues, or even your radiating positivity. Humans aren’t flawed, they’re born evil, they rape children and kill for fun because, as psychologists put it, they’re sociopaths. It’s just a fucking word, someone says you’re sick and that’s it, everything is right with the world. You’re not responsible for your actions, the people you mutated and killed aren’t dead anymore.” His laugh is so bitter. “And what do they get, my darling sister? An eternity in Hell? Well, that’s not good enough for me, they get to live with the rest of us, in prison or mental institution, but with us nonetheless. Round them up and lets hope being trapped with other fucked up individuals will do them some good. Let’s study them because if we can learn about their psyche,” he stops to click his tongue “we still can’t do shit. Because they’re born this way.”

“They’re made that way.” She states. “No one is born inherently good or evil. People just... adapt in order to survive.” She waits for a reaction from him but he just smiles.

The waiter is by their table. Tall guy with a man bun and a thin scruff. “Lookie here.”

Kenzie stares up dumbfounded but Harvey’s voice is behind her. “Hey, man.”

Kenzie looks back at her brother and then the waiter.

The waiter smiles at her, a crooked smile. “I’m Train.” He says like she’s supposed to know who he is.

Harvey speaks before she can. “Train, this is McKenzie, my little sister... and Familiar. Kenzie that’s Train, very old friend.”

“Hi.” She gives a quick wave of her hand. Train can’t be a witch, there’s no magic coming off him. He’s seems very much like a human.

He nods at her and gets his little notebook out. “What’s it this time?”

Harvey sighs. “I’ll do the shrimp and two shots, keep’em coming.” He hands Train the menu and Train picks it as soon as he’s finished writing and leaves the table.

“I see the way you’re looking at me, kitten.” He turns to her. “I thought my introduction was pretty explanatory.”

“He’s a human. You’re friends with all the humans yet you hate them.”

“He’s no human.” He rubs her shoulder and pulls her closer. “He’s a witch.”

She relaxes in his arms and lifts her legs to her chest. “I don’t think so.” She mumbles.

Harvey’s laugh is loud but it’s lost in the music and the chatter. “He’s a very trustworthy guy, my love. He’ll always be there when you really need him.”

Train comes back with shots. A tray full of them actually. He sits down and puts two in front of Harvey and two in front of him. “Bottoms up.”

“Don’t you work here?” Kenzie realizes she should’ve kept her mouth shut.

Train just smiles at her. Downing one shot. “I’m done for the day.”

“Can I just be honest?” Kenzie leans closer to the table.

“Isn’t that you all the time?” Harvey didn’t mean for her to hear it but she does and slaps his chest.

Train scratches his chin. “Shoot.”

“You’re a human.” It’s not a question.

Train takes the other shot. “Of course I am.”

“Stop messing with her.” Harvey barks at him.

“So,” Train lets his breath go and his eyes pierce at Kenzie. “In every sense of the word I am a witch, but I’m a human first.”

“That’s what I tell Harvey all the time.” She’s getting too enthusiastic about this.

“But!” He says dramatically. “I don’t practice.”

“Never? Why?” Her eyes open wide.

He shakes his head. “Straight to third degree.” That wasn’t meant to be heard, then he speaks up. “But ya, you might say I’m a virgin.”

His sarcastic tendencies remind her of someone.

Harvey pulls her back to lean against him. “Take it easy.”

She mumbles a “sorry” and then it’s the guys’ turn to talk. They drink a whole lot. More than a body should be able to handle. A different waiter brings Harvey’s food, and he inhales it before going back to drinking. Kenzie definitely not letting him drive today. The guys seem to go way back. But clearly haven’t seen each other in a long time. Harvey catches up on what he’s been doing recently, and Train making remarks about all of it. Kenzie’s only met one witch who can actually be more sarcastic than Train. But it’s no easy feat to hold up he candle to him. But based on their interaction earlier, this is not the first time they meet here. Train says he lived with the humans since he was barely a teenager. He was on the streets for few years until the owner of this restaurant picked him up and gave him a job. Back then the restaurant wasn’t at all what it is now. Train feels indebted to the man so he’s never stopped working here even after the man died. Kenzie wants to make a comment about her previous conversation with Harvey, but Harvey simply gives her a look that says he knows exactly what she’s thinking. She smiles at him and sits back.

Train is a very unusual witch that’s for sure. Kenzie can’t stop thinking about how he never practiced magic. But even that doesn’t explain the disappearance of his vail.

“So you’ve never had a Familiar?” Kenzie asks after the Train comes back from the bathroom.

Train gives Harvey a quick glance and clears his throat. “No, but you seem like you know what you’re doing, wanna be my first?”

“That was just so funny, that I’m not gonna laugh.” Harvey runs his hand through his hair, face completely stoic.

Kenzie laughs anyway and keeps looking at Train. “You’re brave.”

Harvey sits straight and leans close to Kenzie. “Why don’t you head out. I’m gonna stay here for a while.” His voice is low enough that no one but Kenzie can hear it.

She turns to him. “Give me your keys.” She holds out her hand. “It’s an hour drive and I’m not letting you get anywhere near a car like this.”

She knows even with all the alcohol in his system, he’s not drunk. Definitely not fit to drive but not drunk. He’s probably sending her home so he can get high. Whatever pills he has hidden, he’d never take them in front of her. He always starts with alcohol and when that doesn’t do the job, he moves up the latter.

He pulls his keys out and places them in her hand. “I gotta get up.” He says as he starts moving down the booth. Kenzie stands up to make room for him and he walks away to the bathroom. Kenzie slouches back down.

“You worry that much?”

She shrugs without looking up. “I’m not worried, I just don’t like it when he leaves me out.”

Train puts his hands on the table. “Hey, I’d offer you a drink but you don’t look old enough and I’d be in a lot of trouble.”

Kenzie doesn’t care about the drink. She hates when Harvey keeps her away. She’s trapped in the house all day and the first time he takes her out, she gets sent home like she has a curfew. She hears Train clear his throat but she looks up he’s staring at her with a smile that he’s trying to contain. She tilts her head and he gestures towards his right. She looks up to see a man standing by their table. He has fluffy brown hair and thin lips and he’s staring at Kenzie.

“Hi.” He says.

Kenzie looks at Train like she’s waiting for a confirmation. Making sure they both see the man and he is in fact talking to them. No, not them, her.

“Hey.” She smiles up at him.

“You look really pretty, I just wanted to come over to let you know that.” He looks so nervous and so cute. Probably Harvey’s age, maybe younger.

Kenzie’s smile widens. “Thanks.” She looks at his face and be seems to be blushing. “I appreciate it. You look good too.”

She can feel Train holding his laughter across from her but she doesn’t look. “Was that all?” She asks.

The guy jolts and stutters a little. “Um... no... I mean—I can’t believe I’m nervous.” He lets a small laugh out and its also nervous. “What I wanted to, um, ask. I wanted to know if I can have your number?” He rushes the words out.

Kenzie giggles. This must be flirting. She supposes that human girls would be nervous too at this point. They would think about whether they wanna give there number to a stranger and they mostly worry if he’s a nice guy or just a crazy psycho who will kill them on the first date. That makes her laugh. She covers her mouth and looks at Train, who seems to be amused by the situation. In reality, she’s not a human. And she needs to stay by Harvey’s side. Going on dates isn’t really a Familiar’s job.

“Is that a no?” The guy asks sweetly.

She looks up and her smile is completely gone. She sees Harvey walking to them with his hands in his pockets. He won’t like this. Judging by the look on his face, he’s ready to make the guy pee his pants.

“C’mon give me some credit.” The guy is still talking.

Kenzie turns to him but her smile is entirely fake now.

“This is meant as the non-creepy variety, but I’ve been looking at you since you walked in—“

Harvey is standing right next to the guy. Not looking at him, not at anything, just staring down. “No no, don’t let me stop you, keep going.” He says. Eyes meeting Kenzie for a second before tilting to look at the guy next to him.

“Sorry, man, I was just asking the lady a question.” The guy puts some space between them.

“Ohhh you were,” Harvey runs his fingers through his hair. “Well, the lady, as you delicately put it, is seventeen, so I suggest you go ask your question to someone else.”

The guy looks at Kenzie one last time before nodding his head and mumbling an apology before turning around. Harvey sits next to Train and stares daggers at Kenzie.

“You’re such a dick!” She takes the keys off the table and gets up. Picking up her jacket, that’s just for show, and putting it on. She’s not sure why she thought it be different this time. Harvey just won’t share.

“Anytime.” He gives an overly fake smile and leans back.

As she storms out the restaurant Train shakes his head. “Man, you are a dick.”

“Oh, I’m gonna get advice on how to deal with my sister from _you_?”


	4. Chapter 4

Kenzie isn’t sure what’s more annoying, the little sunlight aimed right at her eyes while shes sleeping, or the phone ringing nonstop. She doesn’t recognize the number, Harvey’s being the only one saved in her contacts. She answers anyway, sleep still clinging to her eyes.

“Hello?”

“I need you to meet me outside.”

“Train?” The only option is that Harvey gave him Kenzie’s number. And speaking of which. She turns around to find the bed empty. Harvey didn’t come home all night.

“Harvey told me about the barrier and I’m not taking any chances. I’m out by the trail.”

Kenzie rubs her eyes and gets up. “Where is he?”

“Can you do something about the barrier?”

“No, Harvey can. Where is he?” She repeats and she up and picking her clothes from the bag.

“Oh. Well, what happens if I walk in?”

Kenzie slips on a white flowing lacy dress and puts the phone on speaker as she laces her boots. “It’s not completely a barrier, witches who walk in get trapped inside.”

There’s a minute of silence. “What about humans?”

She takes the phone and walks to the bathroom. “They get stuck in a loop and can’t leave the forest.” She answer in a rush. “Listen, I’ll be there in a few, just wait.” She hangs up and looks up at the mirror.

Harvey isn’t hurt. That much she knows. She’d be able to sense it. Harvey not coming home isn’t news. She shouldn’t be worried about that. Harvey not calling her and suddenly Train is here, slight worry might be needed. There’s no reason she can think of that Harvey would send someone to get her. Standing here isn’t going to get her answers. She hurries the best she could before bolting out the door. Train is a good distance away, the trail doesn’t begin for another two miles. She runs the entire way, the shoes are the only thing limiting her.

Train is standing against Harvey’s truck. Kenzie coms into view from behind him. She catches her breath and walks to him. “Train.” She calls loudly.

He turns around and his keys jiggle in his hand. “What took you so long, you look exactly the same.”

“Thanks.” She rolls her eyes. “Should I even ask where Harvey is?”

He smiles at her. “I’m taking you to him.”

Train’s car is parked a little further down the road, and it’s definitely better looking than the junk Harvey drives.

They drive to town, Kenzie keeping her mouth shut the entire way. With only one question on her mind, she wasn’t in a conversation-making mood. Train seems relaxed enough, so that’s good news, he wouldn’t be acting like himself if Harvey was hurt. Doesn’t matter how good he is, he can’t hide from Kenzie. She’s not picking anything different off him.

“I can physically feel you worry.” He breaks the silence.

She blinks at him. “Because I’m not used to getting rides from people I barely know. Oh, and also,” she lowers her voice like its a secret “I don’t know where my Master is.” She adds sarcastically.

He laughs and gives her a quick glance. “I’m a perfectly safe stranger, and chances are, you can take me.”

Kenzie continues to sulk for the rest of the ride.

There are large letters on a brick building that spell Greensboro Police Department. Kenzie stands next to Train, eyes fixed on the building. “What’re we doing here?”

“I said I’d take you to Harvey.” He taps her shoulders and starts walking.

Kenzie reminds herself that standing still isn’t gonna get her answers so she follows. Not comfortable walking into a place full of humans who think they can tell other humans how to live. They enter the building and Train heads to the front desk. There’s a guy sitting behind a glass window looking down at his paper. Train clears his throat. “I’m here to bail someone.”

Putting two and two together is real easy at this point. It’s not like Harvey got a job at the police station. The question isn’t Where’s Harvey, it’s why is Harvey in jail. Kenzie finds the closest chair and sits down. Not paying attention to Train anymore. Logic dictates that Harvey is a grown man and can take care of himself, being his Familiar and his sister play against each other. A Familiar wouldn’t blink at the thought of their Master being in jail, even if it’s a very unique situation for a witch to be in. A sister would be an entirely different story. A sister who doesn’t experience human emotions the way they do.

“He’s not dead, you know that. He’ll be out as soon as I fill this crap out.”

She doesn’t notice Train until he’s sitting by her side and talking. She doesn’t look at him, not sure if she can trust her face not to tell him exactly what she’s feeling. But maybe he already figured it out.

“It’s not the first time, he knows what he’s doing.”

She tenses next to him.

He continues to write on the form he has. “Never really met anyone who can get arrested that many times in one year.” He mumbles that part to himself. He gives her a look and takes a breath. “I don’t think he wants you to know but I don’t really care what he wants as much as what’s good for him. He’s been drinking and starting fights and... he really messes people up. I don’t know what kinda crap he’s got in his head but beating strangers isn’t gonna fix it.”

She hears the tap-tap-tap of the pen against the paper and somehow, even though the information is brand new, she’s not surprised. He always came home with new cuts and bruises, never explained himself, she asked once and when he didn’t answer that was her cue. So she’d take care of him until he would leave again. Was he really fighting back in the coven? Unlikely. Chances are he was coming to the humans for that.

“I’ve never been into magic.” Train whispers to her. “And I sure don’t know what your job is as a Familiar but... just look out for him. As a sister or... I don’t know...” He doesn’t finish his sentence.

She finally looks up at him. Mouth opening but still, nothing wants to come out.

It feels like the waiting lasts an eternity. Cops walking by, looking at Kenzie, one even talks to her while Train is in the bathroom. She looks like a lost child and he was trying to do his job. She explains to him that she’s waiting for someone but the guys doesn’t leave. He just settles two seats away from her.

“So who you waiting for?”

Kenzie doesn’t turn her head, but her eyes follow his movements, he’s an older guy with black hair and sleepy eyes.

“My brother.”

The guy sighs and crosses his arms. “Does he work here?” He clearly wants to keep the conversation going. He knows the answer to his own question.

When he smiles at her Kenzie leans back. “No, and I’m not answering anymore questions.”

He makes a funny face, like she said something he never heard before. “Just don’t want you getting bored all by yourself.”

Kenzie considers not answering him. Chewing on her lip and still not looking at him. “I’m fine.”

Train comes out of the bathroom and gets Kenzie’s attention. “Hey.”

She looks up when she hears his voice. But he’s not alone. Harvey’s walking right behind him. She instantly gets to her feet. She wants Train to move so she can see Harvey. At first glance he looks fine, but as he passes Train his face becomes clear and Kenzie can see the large purple bruise on his jaw. His eyes are sunken and his knuckles are bloodied.

“Let’s go.” Train calls. Not waiting for them before starting to walk.

Harvey heads to the front desk and knocks on the glass. “I came with a wallet and phone.” His voice is so raspy.

Kenzie doesn’t walk to him. She waits, with his back to her and watches. The thick glass makes it so she can’t see or hear what the man on the other side says. She turn to look at the older police officer still sitting down. He’s definitely following what’s happening. Kenzie thinks that this is how police believe they’re doing their jobs. Close inspection and attention to details. The system isn’t working, not the slightest. Here they are, a witch, a former witch, and a Familiar, all in a police station and they can pay attention all they want, they won’t figure anything out. Harvey was arrested last night, he spent the night right under their noses, they had his phone, so many opportunities and still nothing. For them he’s just another delinquent on the street.

Harvey pulls her by the waist and she starts walking. She looks up at his face, then at the hand around her, she holds it and lowers it until she gets a good look. He doesn’t like that, he pulls his hand but she wont let him. Mumbling “Let me see.” And that makes him give up. They walk out to the parking lot. Kenzie holding Harvey’s hand gently and guiding him to Train’s car.

“Ok?” She asks.

He shrugs.

“You’re an idiot.” She states.

Train is leaning against his car watching them walk closer. He takes his keys out and turns to get in the car but Harvey stops him.

“We’re walking.”

Both Train and Kenzie give him a wide eyed look. Train speaking first. “If you wanna work out there’s a gym for these things.”

Kenzie looks to Harvey and he squeezes her hand a little. “I need to pick something up. We’ll hitch a ride.” He doesn’t look at her, talking only to Train.

Train takes a step back and jiggles his keys, clearly disapproves but doesn’t voice it. “See ya ‘round.”

Train leaves, then they’re standing in the middle of a police parking lot alone. There’s something off about Harvey. He’s quite, more than usual. He refuses to look at her, and it’s making her uneasy. It doesn’t help that she can’t tell what he’s thinking. It’s even worse that he’s hurt and she can’t do anything to help. She never imagined all these complications when she left the coven. She always thought that living with the humans is so easy. There’s no Silver, no coven to hurt them, no magic at all. The world is unfiltered. She convinced herself that as long as Harvey is with her it can’t be bad. But he’s so distant, he talks to her even less now, he’s making friends with humans while she stays under lockdown.

“I’m sorry.” She says

He snaps his attention to her. “Huh?”

She lets his hand go and shifts her weight from one foot to the other. “I’ve been kinda selfish and not doing my job. I’m so happy we’re not at the coven anymore.” She looks up at him, his eyes seem sad, maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to look at her. She exhales loudly “I’m so happy you didn’t leave me but I can’t let you get hurt anymore, you have to stop shutting me out—“

She’s cut off by his laugh. She stares. Waiting for the punch line. It doesn’t last long. He runs his fingers through his hair and sighs. Again, like she’s supposed to know what’s funny. But he leans down so he’s at eye level with her, amusement gone from his face but he’s not upset.

“Do you love me more than the humans?” The smile tugs on his lips after he asks the question.

She gets the urge to push him away and call him an absolute dumbass for even asking. But he wants to know the answer. He should know the answer. It’s such a dumb, dumb question. When she looks at him, really look, see the way he’s holding himself together. She remembers the broken boy she once knew. The one who would stand up to her and get hurt in the process but keeps doing it anyway. The one who used to run away because he knows he doesn’t belong but came back every night, just for her. She can’t find that boy anymore, when she looks into Harvey’s eyes now, it’s like he forgot his past, like he buried that boy and built someone she needs to protect. Maybe it’s all the drugs messing with him, maybe it’s all he had to deal with in the coven, he’s so twisted up now, he’s lost and he believes he’s alone even when he’s not. He’s never alone.

Kenzie places one hand on his shoulder, trying to bring him back to reality. “You should never have to ask.”

He cracks a smile and stands straight again, hands in his pockets “C’mon.”

Harvey takes her to small shop about four blocks from the station. Definitely witchcraft is at work. The place is old and smooshed between a large book store, which is probably how Harvey found out about it, and a cafe with neon signs screaming We’re Open. There’s a lot of energy coming off the shop. The window display are a mix of items, most are real and the rest is not. The bell rings when they open the door to enter and draws the attention of the boy behind the register. It’s a small square shop, very dark inside. The three walls are filled with items, there are two large wooden tables running along each wall filled with healing rocks, animal bones, spell books, parchment with latin and other dead languages on them, voodoo dolls, cursed items, summoning rituals, blessing parchments, hand crafted weapons and right behind the boy there’s a large variety of herbs and oils against the wall bottled on display. That’s only what Kenzie was able to actually see. This place has everything a witch could need.

Harvey walks straight to the boy. “I called a head, spoke to Lily about some supplies.”

The boy, can’t be older than sixteen, doesn’t bother putting on a show. He looks bored, he probably is, and definitely doesn’t wanna spend his afternoon here. “That would be my grandma.” He sighs “Let me call her.” He doesn’t take a single step, just turns and yells “Grandma!” Then turns back around to lean again the counter.

The boy isn’t really anything special. He’s human, and with all the aura coming off these items, there’s no way Kenzie can pick on the Grandma from this distant. She needs to be close to tell if she’s also human. The grandma comes out from behind the boy, there’s a door frame with beads hanging over the frame. She’s short and dresses a little like Kenzie which makes her look down at herself for a second before focusing again.

“Harvey?” The old lady, Lily, asks. 

Harvey just nods and she motions to him with her head to follow. He turns to Kenzie “Can you get me a coffee from the place next door?”

She nods and he walks to Lily. Both disappearing behind the beads. Kenzie looks at the boy, he can’t stop staring at her. He looks nice, his eyes are beautiful green and he has a small nose. She smiles and tilts her head, about to leave to get coffee. And she remembers she has no money. She wants to roll her eyes at Harvey but instead she walks towards the boy.

Chances are, Lily doesn’t put her dark magic out on display that’s why she took Harvey to the back. Harvey’s magic is mostly dark and ancient but he uses some spells that don’t completely tarnish his soul like locating or binding spells. She remembers hearing a witch’s call from hell and it was different than what the other demons said it would be. She didn’t really think about it back them. She was so desperate to be out of Hell that she answered and she was wiped clean for about two years.

The boy tries to smile at her “Hey.” His voice cracks.

She stops short when she’s few steps away from the counter. “Hey.” She repeats.

He looks away and smiles then look back at her. He has no clue what to say.

“I like it here.” She admits. She points at the wall of bottled herbs behind him. “Harvey usually makes me pick them fresh.”

He glances to the wall and back to her. “Oh.”

Now Kenzie feels bad. He’s just a kid.

His voice comes loud when he talks. “I don’t really believe in all his. It’s my grandma, I just help around sometime.” He clears his throat like he said something wrong.

“You don’t.” She takes a step closer and blinks at him. “Is your grandma a witch?”

He laughs nervously, assuming she’s kidding. Then he straighteners up and wipes the smile off his face. “That kinda stuff isn’t real.”

“Almost everything here is real. I’m surprised humans would trade in these items.” She looks around and picks a small book and opens it.

The boy scoffs. “Umm, ya sure.”

She turns her gaze to him. “Don’t let Harvey hear you.” She places her finger over her lips like it’s a secret then puts the book back where she found it.

“What’s you name?” She asks.

“E-Ethan?”

“Are you asking me?” She chuckles. “Ethan.” She says his name just to hear how it sounds.

“Yes.” He answers.

“You’re funny.” She looks behind him. “What’s over there?”

“That’s where my grandma mixes her potions.” Saying that he’s being sarcastic is an understatement.

Kenzie sighs. “Harvey just does it in the kitchen. I keep telling him that’s where he eats, he shouldn’t mix anything. But you know...” she trails off and spins around laughing.

“I.. I don’t know actually...”

“Big brothers never listen. Do you have a brother Ethan?” She leans over the counter.

He shakes his head and tugs at his shirt.

“Oh.” Her face scrunches up. “That’s too bad.”

There’s silence. There’s a lot of staring. Ethan can’t keep from looking and Kenzie doesn’t mind. She tries to read the labels on the bottles against the wall. She’s more interested in the grandma now. Kenzie has only met one, actually two counting Train, witches who live with humans. It’s like she hit the jackpot, she keeps finding more.

“So, uh..” Ethan swallows thickly “Are you, like a witch?” He’s having trouble getting the word out.

Kenzie smiles again and thinks about telling him the entire truth. He’s not gonna believe her anyway.

“She’s not.” Harvey’s voice comes from behind Ethan. He walks out through the beads carrying a small box and heads to where Kenzie is, he stands behind her, his height looming over her small frame. He doesn’t break eye contact with Ethan. Harvey’s face alone can scare anyone, but when he gets in a bad mood, it’s actually terrifying. “She’s my Familiar. I’m the witch.”

Kenzie doesn’t know why he chose this special boy to tell him the truth but she doesn’t care. She’s bored now and wants to take her shoes off.

Ethan leans back a little, not knowing what to do with his hands.

Kenzie waits but nothing happens. Since Harvey’s standing behind her and she cant see him she assumes he’s just staring the kid down. She turns and takes his free hand, pulling him out and she hears him chuckle. They walk out the shop and hear the bell ring one more time then they’re standing on the side walk.

“I think he peed his pants.” Harvey says casually.

“I can’t believe—“ she cuts herself off. “Whatever. You didn’t give me money for your coffee.” She holds out her hand.

“We’ll go together.” He walks to the cafe next door and she follows. The cold is starting to get to him, she feels how icy his fingers are when she holds his hand again. The cafe isn’t busy at all, they also have a little bell hanging over the door which makes Kenzie think humans have only peripheral vision and can’t pay attention to their surroundings. They walk up to the line and Kenzie looks at the menu hanging on the wall behind the two girls working the registers.

“I can’t understand anything on that menu and I speak every language. All of them.”

Harvey nudges her with his elbow “Black coffee my beloved sister. It’s magic.”

She laughs at his lame pun and hears the bell ring again and turns reflexively. At that one moment, Kenzie believed that her eyes might be playing tricks on her. Because the person who walked through the door can’t really be here. But he sees her too now. He looks right at her. His sharp brown eyes ever the same, his old, old leather jacket and his low cut shirt showing off his neck tattoos against his dark golden skin, all the way down to his ripped jeans and heavy biker boots.

“Holy shi—“ before he can actually finish expressing his shock, Kenzie was running at him full speed, she jumps and wraps her legs around his waist which knocks the wind out of him. With a loud “Oof” he hold her up and squeezes her tiny frame.

“Hey shrimp.” He laughs.

“Micha! You’re here!” She doesn’t let go. Eyes squeezed shut and arms couldn’t be pried off with a crowbar.

Micha rubs her back. “I am.” His Australian accent showing when he pronounces his vowels.

Harvey walks to them, waiting for Kenzie to come down so he can also say hello. It becomes obvious she’s not planning on letting go.

“Um, gonna come down soon or you coming to the bathroom with me?”

Kenzie unclenches her arms and legs slowly and Micha helps her get down. He keeps smiling at her and adjusts his jacket. “Well, I didn’t plan on my day turning this way.” He looks up at Harvey and makes a noise in the back of his throat. “Ugh! What happened to you, mate?”

Harvey pretends to laugh, purposely exaggerating to show Micha that he’s not funny.

Micha clasps both hands on Harvey’s shoulders and shakes him a little. “Oh I don’t care, I’m still gonna kick your ass for not telling me your sister’s here.”

Harvey pushes him and chuckles, tapping his chest twice. “Give it a try,” he smirks “mate.” He mocks Micha accent with a smile.

Kenzie wants to hit pause for a minute so she can catch up. Micha is here, Harvey seems pretty cool with it, which adds up to, they’ve been meeting and haven’t lost touch since Harvey left the coven.

“Are you kidding me?”

Kenzie doesn’t realize she almost shouted, or even said it outside her head until she got everyone’s eyes on her. Harvey knows how frightening he can be, but if there’s one person who he doesn’t like to see angry. It’s his little sister. She’s very calm and docile until she finds out she’s been lied to. Harvey takes a step back and looks away, trying to think of an excuse that he can use but she’s boring holes with her eyes. She takes hold of his shirt and pulls him down to her level.

“Micha’s been here all this time, you saw him, you knew he was here, and it never came up?”

Micha’s laugh is hardly contained behind them. Harvey looks at him, maybe asking to be saved. But Kenzie tightens her grip on his shirt. “Why hasn’t it come up?”

“It slipped my mind?” He tries to smile, but he’s waiting to see if his answer worked.

Kenzie narrows her eyes and she looks like she want to scream. She loosens her grip and takes a moment to gather herself.

Micha has his arms wrapped around her shoulders from the back, pulling her to his chest. “Relax, shrimp, we’re all here now.”

She pouts, not looking at Harvey anymore. “Don’t call me that.”

“Are you gonna grow?” He asks.

She elbows him in the stomach and he feigns hurt. Releasing her in favor of clutching his stomach. He looks at Harvey “It’s like getting punched by a cupcake.”

Harvey laughs because he knows how much she doesn’t like being teased about her size and Micha is the only one to does it.

Kenzie learns that Harvey called Micha to come pick them up, he wasn’t just accidentally here. When they head outside they see a beautiful girl with the widest set of eyes, a beauty mark under her right eye, and a short black hair leaning against Micha’s car. Turns out she’s his new Familiar. Kenzie doesn’t bother learning her name, she rides in the back with Micha, despite being a little upset now, while the Familiar drives with Harvey in the front. Micha is truly her friend, her only friend beside Harvey, but she can’t accept his inability to stick to one Familiar.

“Are you going to pout for the entire ride?” Micha has his phone out in his lap and he’s texting someone when he talks to her.

Kenzie hears Harvey chuckle in the front and she doesn’t answer. It’s hard to understand why he keeps switching his Familiar like shoes and it’s probably the only thing that gets her mad at him. Kenzie isn’t sure how Harvey met Micha, they both were 14 and it was one of the days when he’d leave her. Fast forward two years later and Harvey came home to tell her she has to meet someone. He decides to take her out with him the next time he meets Micha, it’s a spot in the woods by the lake and there’s a boy Harvey’s age waiting for them. Kenzie was 10 at the time and she was happy to meet witches who didn’t wanna kill her. Micha was something else, he had a beautiful dark skin and sharp eyes that would pierce through anything, he had less tattoos than he does now, only covering one arm. He had no Familiar and Kenzie never asked why. He was a perfect third wheel for the siblings, he didn’t actually feel like a third wheel, but more like their jagged edges fit so well together and formed a picture, wasn’t a perfect picture, but it was one nonetheless. Micha had moved from Australia, both his parents were witches that didn’t belong to a coven and when they died he was all alone. He realized he had nothing left to stay for so he ran away. He thought he wanted to be in a coven until he joined one in New Orleans and saw what a mess that was, that his parents made the right call to practice magic on their own. Kenzie learns that Micha is the reason Harvey would sneak away sometimes. Since no one was teaching Harvey magic and he taught himself dark magic, Micha found him interesting, so they would practice together.

Micha had some bad habits himself, he always had something to say, always had to have the last word, he’d tease Kenzie so much about her size, saying “What kinda demon is 4’9?” It didn’t matter how much she grew after, her body was very small, opposite to Micha, who was slightly taller than Harvey. They’d both pick her on their shoulders and throw her in the lake because she hated water so much. But he was such a natural leader, he knows exactly how to rile someone to get the right reactions out. After a while Kenzie asks why doesn’t Micha have a Familiar and all he says is “I do.” One day he drops by with a another guy, looks a bit older than him and says that’s his Familiar. The man was nice, kept to himself, made Kenzie question if her relationship with her Master was unusual. She had no knowledge of how witches and their Familiars should be, all she knew was Harvey is her family and she’d take that over any other dynamic out there. The trouble only starts when Micha shows up with a girl next time, and also introduced her as his Familiar. Kenzie realizes her opinion is biased, but there’s an unspoken rule about witches and their Familiars. At a young age one should be summoned and they stay together for life. Unless one of the two dies, then it’s normal to find a new Master or a new Familiar. Micha reasons that he likes the change and doesn’t offer further explanation. Kenzie disapproves up until this day but he just jokes about it and doesn’t justify himself.

When they reach the end of the road, the car gets parked next to Harvey’s truck. Harvey is the first one of the car, keeping the box he got from the shop by his hip. When Kenzie sees Micha and his Familiar step out, she figures they’re gonna stay for a while. She walks over to Harvey and sulks behind him.

“Daddy long legs, is the walk too much for you? Need me to carry you?” Micha strolls over and steps behind Harvey to see her.

Kenzie keeps her arms crossed, giving Micha one look that explains exactly what she’s gonna do to him if he keeps up with the nicknames.

“No need to plot my murder.” He blinks at her and starts walking towards the trail.

Harvey holds her hand as they walk behind Micha and his Familiar. Kenzie doesn’t want to pull away from Micha, especially after not seeing him for so long, but she’s not about to lie to save his feelings. Kenzie takes her shoes off and carries them in her other hand for the rest of the way. She hears Micha laugh quietly with his Familiar. She watches how the girl keeps some distance between her and Micha, following slightly behind him but her eyes never leave his face. She’s slender from the back, but compared to Micha everyone looks small.

“Oh, my love, you don’t have to hate her.” Harvey squeezes her hand a little to get her attention.

“I don’t hate her.” Kenzie’s lips press into a thin line, not wanting to get into this now.

“He’s not gonna change. Let it go.” Harvey lifts their hands all the way up to his lips and leaves a soft kiss against her hand. When Kenzie looks up and sees the bruise on his jaw, her breath catches, not able to look away, but not wanting to see it anymore. She feels she has to bring it up. She feels like it’s her fault and most importantly, she feels more human now than she ever did, with Harvey hurt, it brings out something in her she never felt in Hell. Maybe because no one feels anything in Hell.

_Busy cafes don’t make the best choices for witches meetings but Harvey was up til dawn getting drunk with Kenzie and even hearing the word coffee was doing things to him. Good things. So he sneaks out of bed before Kenzie wakes up and gives Micha a call._

_“Take a walk, Victoria’s Secret.” Harvey doesn’t even acknowledge Micha’s newest Familiar with a look when he talks._

_She leaves but they’re far from being alone. Micha cuffs his sleeves, exposing inked skin in the process and picks up his coffee._

_“Grumpy.”_

_“I need a favor, Micha.” Harvey can’t look up too much, there’s way too much light._

_“I don’t do those kinda services but I’ll be happy to refer you.” Micha smiles fast, showing Harvey he’s only joking but it doesn’t work._

_“Jesus, can’t you pull that sarcasm dick outta your mouth for a minute and listen?”_

_Micha listens._

_Harvey runs his hand through his hair. “I need a Familiar, a demon actually. I don’t care what they do in their spare time. You’re known for summoning Familiars left and right so it won’t be off character for you.”_

_Micha leans into the table, head titling, slowly absorbing the information. “Does Kenzie know about this because she might be the jealous type.”_

_Harvey sighs. “Micha, I need you to do this as a favor for me... and Kenzie doesn’t need to know.”_

_Micha looks around, trying to find words that describe what a horrible idea this is. “Mate, I’d do anything for you but not this. I’m not summoning another Familiar for you. That’d kill Kenzie, she would be far too broken after that.”_

_“Why don’t you let me worry about my sister. Micha, I taught you half the shit you know—_

_“That goes both ways.” Micha cuts in._

_“I also kept you alive and saved you once or twice... that type of debt doesn’t go away uncollected.”_

_Micha shakes his head, hands too tense to move. “I would kill for you, you know that, we’re family but I can’t do that to Kenzie.”_

_“She won’t know and it’ll be over before she can ever find out.”_

_“Why? What could you possibly need another Familiar for?”_

_Harvey grits his teeth. “I need to make a weapon.”_

_“And I need a better reason than that, mate.” Micha keeps his voice down but his eyes clearly tell how serious he’s getting._

_“Micha, it’s a favor because you have no say. I didn’t ask for an opinion, I don’t care how morally challenged you are, you put that shit away and get me a new Familiar.”_

_Micha gets up, rattling the table and attracting attention, he grabs his leather jacket and leans down closer to Harvey. “Find someone else, I’m not gonna be the one who gets Kenzie all weepy and mistrusting because that’s a real innocent fuckin demon you got there.”_

_Micha walks out but Harvey isn’t letting this go. He follows him, hearing the bell ring when they open the door. The cold hits them hard, but Micha walks fast._

_“What’s your deal? You don’t get to use Kenzie as an excuse to get outta this.”_

_Micha throws a look over his shoulder. “If it’s that important, do it yourself.”_

_Harvey runs two wide steps, getting ahead and in Micha’s way, forcing him to stop. “I need a Familiar to summon one you dumbass, that’s why Coven Leaders do it for everyone.”_

_Micha didn’t know that. Downside of never belonging to a coven but it doesn’t justify any of this._

_“You did it before.”_

_“And look how it turned out.”_

_Their harsh breathing fills the silence._

_“Harvey It’s not that easy.”_

_“This is. It’s easy, you don’t get to call me family and dismiss me because your little feelings might get hurt.”_

_Micha should walk away, he should leave this, Harvey is persistent and won’t drop this but being away from him will clear his head. Micha starts to move but Harvey has a hand on his chest._

_Micha looks down and up at Harvey again. “You won’t change my mind about this. Get out of my way, mate.”_

_Micha leaves, and looks pissed in the process. Harvey hasn’t asked anything of him since they met. 5 years of smooth sailing, one might think that would amount to something. Harvey never thought Micha felt so strongly about Kenzie, or her feelings. He met her barely 3 years ago and it’s not like Harvey was bringing her to every meeting. For Harvey she was still just a 10 year old back then and too young for pretty much anything. Regardless of how persistent she is about leaving the room and meeting people. She met Micha few times but they don’t talk much, Kenzie always stayed by Harvey’s side, maybe shy, maybe just not sure how to interact with him. It certainly doesn’t warrant Micha’s reactions towards all of this. Harvey’s his best friend, he should take his side even if he doesn’t like what he’s doing._

_Micha’s crush was supposed to be a secret, it is a secret, but Harvey doesn’t like secrets when it comes to his little sister so he knows. No one knows that he knows, but he does. No one knows about Micha’s crush either. Except Harvey, he knows everything. So while they’re both busy pretending there’s nothing to hide, and Kenzie is as dense as ever, Micha drops by._

_Not two weeks later it’s The Moon Harvest and the coven is empty. Harvey goes through everyone’s books, out of boredom, they’re all ammeters and there’s nothing they can teach him but it’s fun to fuck with them, especially since they’re too afraid to call him out on it._

_The three of them sit in the kitchen while Kenzie is too distracted by a book in her lap. She doesn’t pay no attention to either boys. With them having turned 21 earlier in the year, they’ve been celebrating nonstop, not that booze is something new to Harvey. Micha asks Kenzie for a dance but she just looks up through her lashes and shrugs, ignoring him in a way that forces a laugh out of Harvey. Micha recovers quickly, going back to provoking Harvey to his best ability like it’s the sole purpose of his existence. Soon after midnight, Micha is drunk and wants to go home, Kenzie doesn’t know where home is but she doesn’t argue when Harvey tells her to stay put while he gets Micha home._

_Harvey comes back and shakes the snow off his boots before huddling on the couch next to Kenzie. He watches the fire rise and fall in the fireplace then thanks Kenzie for turning it on. He lays his head on her shoulder, ducking far down to make himself smaller and able to fit around her small frame. She places the book down, lifting her knees to her chest._

_“I think that was his best flirting.” Harvey states out of nowhere._

_“What?” She asks._

_“Micha.” He answers without looking at her._

_“No, Micha was just being nice.” She suddenly feels awkward, not sure why._

_“Hmm... he was being more than that.” Harvey pushes himself closer to her and sighs._

_“You’re being weird.” She tries to push him off but her movements are too stiff, Harvey’s words somehow taking over her._

_“You never noticed before? How he always stares at you.” Harvey has a lazy smile on his lips, and his hands comes up to play with her hair, tracing the blond strands all the way down to her waist._

_With a lump stuck on her throat, she feels too exposed. Harvey, always knowing more than her somehow, putting her on the spot. “Harvey... that’s not... he doesn’t—Micha is...”_

_He chuckles and lifts his head to look at her. “You’re blushing, little girl.”_

_“No! Micha has never...” She sits straight, leaving Harvey staring at her back, which is better than looking at him and not being able to talk. “He’s a friend. He wants to spend time with me.”_

_Harvey’s fingers comb through her hair, scratching her back while doing so. “He wants more than that.”_

_Her eyes widen but she stares ahead, not letting Harvey see her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about anymore, I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.”_

_Harvey knows how easily she gets flustered but this a new level even for her. It makes some sense, she’s been locked up here for the entirety of her life on the surface, no amount of demon experience prepares a girl for the reality of human emotions, especially when they come from a boy. She’s not all dark and evil as she likes to believe._

_“He’s had a crush on you before he even met you.”_

_She finally turns to him, letting on her surprise, with a red face and all. “He doesn’t like me, he doesn’t know me. Not like you do.”_

_“He doesn’t have to, he sees you and that’s enough, you’re as pretty as ever, kinda take after me.” He watches her think about it, doesn’t know what to make of it, he agrees that Micha doesn’t know her, not any better than she knows him. They have no real relationship, they’re not close, 3 years would be enough to make them best friends but she’s honestly awkward around people and she always hides behind Harvey, and he’s crazy over protective so it makes it hard for anyone to approach her. So no, 3 years hasn’t done anything, it doesn’t mean anything because Micha likes her for how she looks and her paradoxical innocence. She’s aware enough of her social limits to be genuinely shocked at the thought of anyone having any feelings towards her._

_“My Love, I need you to ask him something. I asked but he shot me down... if it comes from you though.” He tucks her hair behind her ear and smiles, pulling her in._

_She leans back, trying to cave on herself. “You’re delusional, Harvey. I can’t do that.”_

_He relaxes against her once again, head on her tiny shoulder. “Just flirt a little, bat those pretty lashes.”_

_Her legs bounce, getting nervous. “I don’t know how, the only boy I ever talk to is you.”_

_“You had him the minute he saw you, beloved sister.”_

_“How can you be so sure... just know what someone feels... I couldn’t tell. I still can’t. I don’t know what he wants.”_

_“I do.” He takes her hand and she watches. “Boys want one thing”_

_She tries not to be affected but it’s too late for that. “But—“_

_He pulls his head away to look at her, really look. “Have you seen— I’m not getting into that.”_

_Her fingers don’t grip his hand, she lets him trace her palm. “What if he wants more?”_

_“We covered that. All he wants is more.”_

_She holds still, feeling the flame closer than before. “No, Harvey, he... he doesn’t know me and I feel like I’m conning him.”_

_His smile reaches her before his voice does. “Not even for your favorite big brother?”_

_“You don’t need him, whatever it is, you’re more powerful than he could ever be, you don’t need him.” She lays her head back and waits._

_“For this I do, and I need you to be a good little sister for me, can you do that?”_

_Kenzie puts on Harvey’s clothes, she has been for the past week, she steals shirts that are too big for her and sleeps in them. She lets her bare feet hang over the edge of the bed while she sits comfortably with a torn t-shirt and shrugs when he asks why she doesn’t wear her own clothes. She was like this in the beginning, her first two years with him whens she thought she was human. Then it faded a little, she found her footing for a bit. Harvey realized she was never gonna grow out of it, she will always come back to his closet at odd times, without an explanation, and wear his clothes._

_A dark grey, very loose Henley sits barely in her shoulders as she stares at herself in the bathroom mirror, not a clue on what to do with her hair. She tries to tie it together in a ponytail, that’s when she hears Harvey’s voice behind her._

_“Take it off, you can’t wear your brother’s clothes, wear something girlie and less ... me.” He walks closer and takes hold of her hair, forcing her to drop her hands._

_“I like wearing my brother’s clothes.” She stares back at him in the mirror._

_“I like you in my clothes, believe me. Just not today.”_

_Harvey hangs back, letting his best friend and his sister have amounts of privacy he never allowed before. Everywhere Kenzie goes, he goes. This was unusual by anyone’s standers. Micha couldn’t question it, not for lack of trying, but because Harvey didn’t give him the opportunity. So while Harvey’s busy starting a fire, Micha and Kenzie sit by the frozen lake. The snow is few inches thick which is a surprise they welcome. Kenzie looks pale with her bare feet and her thin arms showing from her pink off-shoulder mini dress. It falls freely past her hips and reaches her mid-thigh and honestly just looking at her is making him shiver. Her hair is in a half bun while the rest comes down against her waist. She keeps making patterns in the snow with her feet and Micha buries himself deeper in his scarf._

_Micha doesn’t know what led this on, why all of the sudden he’s alone with Kenzie and not to complain but she’s not the easiest to talk to. She’s pretty enough but everything he says, he receives a nod for it. There’s not much communication from her side, and he’s not surprised. She was never the one to start a conversation with him, she talked mostly to Harvey but when Micha spoke she had an answer, she made eye contact and all. Now, it’s different._

_Kenzie throws lots of looks back at her brother who seems to be struggling with the fire. She knows he’s stalling, trying to leave her alone with Micha for as long as possible. It would be nice if she had anything to say. She feels trapped, like she was shoved in this box that’s too small for her but there’s no way out. Micha is nice, she can admit that, but that’s as far as she can see. She’s out of her element. Why did Harvey think for a second that she can flirt. The only thing she can do is sit and barely look at him. He’s smiling and trying so hard to get her to talk but she’s just trapped._

_The walk home consists of Kenzie feeling stupid and wanting to erase the whole day from her memory._

_“That was disastrous. I was mute... and when I opened my mouth all I could talk about is you.”_

_Harvey isn’t bothered by any of it. He keeps his hands in his pockets to avoid the cold and trails slowly behind her._

_“I’m sure it was fine, it’s a free trial, next time you’ll do better.”_

_There shouldn’t be a next time, Kenzie should’ve made it clear that she doesn’t want to do this again. But all the whining in the world wasn’t getting her out of it. Harvey’s mood was different, uplifted and that’s something she didn’t expect. This was his master plan and he wasn’t gonna let anything ruin it. He has a history of doing whatever it takes to get what he wants. There is no right or wrong, no moral lines, it’s more of a wide field and he’s allowed to play any game._

_In a cottage buried deep in the woods and abandoned for a really long time, the three of them find a body made of twigs in the middle of the attic. It has huge antlers and no hands or feet. There’s a mix of mud and blood on the attic floor which only Kenzie can smell. The residue of burnt candles and black smudges on the walls paint a clear picture of what all this is._

_“Witchcraft.” The three sigh almost at the same time._

_Kenzie’s the first to laugh._

_Kenzie says to leave the alter alone. That whoever was being worshipped there may come for them if they take it down. The boys aren’t as worried but it’s cold and they need fire. Harvey volunteers to grab wood from outside, whatever dry wood he can find, if he can find it. With Kenzie and Micha alone again within the same week, Micha seems to have gained more confidence. Kenzie doesn’t wanna let her brother down. Harvey needs this and she’s his Familiar, the idea of Harvey not getting what he wants doesn’t settle well with her. She sits on the floor next to Micha. They face the empty fireplace, Kenzie’s white dress getting dragged on the dirty floorboards._

_“You’re turning blue.” She jokes._

_Micha rubs his hands together and leans back a little. “I’m always blue. I’m offended you just noticed.”_

_She chuckles and that makes him edge a bit closer to her. She watches him, watching her. His eyes sliding to her lips and up again._

_“You’re not ignoring me anymore.” He states._

_She stares, not sure of how to respond. “I never ignored you.”_

_He shrugs, and it’s not like him to be quiet. Micha always has something to say, something he can tease about._

_Kenzie, for the first time feels self-conscious. Being watched is not her thing. She licks her lips and that gets Micha’s attention to them again. She tilts her head and never breaks eye contact_

_“Do you wanna kiss me?”_

_That’s not what he was expecting to hear. Kenzie looks calm enough that she’s not joking. Her smile alone is convincing but she went and asked and it makes his heart and stomach switch places. He swallows, not able to get rid of the lump in his throat, or maybe it’s in his heart. He can’t bring himself to answer but she’s patient._

_His breath gets caught when he opens his mouth but he answers anyway. “Please.”_

_Kenzie is aware how close to lying this is. She’s not lying to Micha, she never said anything that wasn’t true. But humans have so many ways of lying. Words are just one way of doing it. She pushes her panic aside and gets to her knees, she crawls two steps to get in front of him, and he stares. She’s never kissed anyone before. Doesn’t know how it works but this is not the time to ask for lessons._

_Kenzie stands on her knees, but leans down, hands against his shoulders and face so close that she can see how many shades of brown his eyes are._

_Micha’s shock is short lived. He doesn’t have time to be frozen and as soon as Kenzie’s hand touch him he’s awake. He doesn’t wanna rush her and the idea of Harvey coming back replays in the back of his mind. His hands lift slowly to wrap around her waist and he’s reminded again that he shouldn’t do this. But she’s close and he can feel how freezing cold her skin is. She can’t feel it but he can. His eyes move down slowly, watching how she parts her lips slightly before they’re touching his own._

_Kenzie closes her eyes and waits, waits for some kind of instructions. All the books she read say that her body will tell her what to do. But she hasn’t received anything yet. Lucky her, Micha is experienced enough for the both of them. She feels him pulling her down, her body pressed against his and his hands stay on her back. The sensation is weird, the kissing or maybe the way someone else’s hands feel against her skin. It’s not like Harvey. That’s her first thought, Micha is slightly bigger than Harvey but she doesn’t feel safe. She doesn’t feel like she might get lost in his arms if he holds her long enough._

_The door is flung open and Kenzie pulls away. She feels Micha tense and when they both turn to the door, Harvey drops the wood to the floor and stares at Micha. He doesn’t bother looking at Kenzie but she knows what’s coming. She untangles herself from Micha’s grip and sits back down._

_Micha is nervous, mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. He starts to get up but Harvey’s fast, striding to him and grabbing him by the collar. Micha tries to defend himself but Harvey slams him against the wall hard, forcing a rattle to run through the cottage._

_“What the Hell do you think you’re doing?”_

_Micha is bigger but Harvey is scarier and that’s not fair. “She’s not a kid”. Is all he says._

_Kenzie sees how Micha steals a glance towards her and her fingers come up to touch her lips. She watches Harvey, angry over nothing and so close to hurting his best friend and there’s nothing she can say to stop him, so she watches._

_Harvey pulls Micha close and slams him against the wall again, Micha’s head bouncing this time. “Get outta my face.”_

_Harvey lets him go, taking a step back and Micha looks so very confident, but Kenzie knows better and so does Harvey. He is scared, and he feels lucky that Harvey didn’t beat within an inch of his life. He looks at Kenzie one last time and walks out. The door doesn’t close behind him and the winds plays with it._

_Harvey finally turns to her. Their eyes meet and she sighs, not sure where to start before kicking his ass._

_"Stop giving me the pouty face." He smiles._

_"I'm not giving you the pouty face, this is my 'you're being a dick' face."_

_He walks to her, sitting behind her and pulling her back to his chest. “I had to put the fear of God in him or it wouldn’t be believable.”_

_She rests her head back, listening to his heartbeat loudly._

_“You mad?” He asks._

_She shrugs, not knowing how to answer._

_“Did you like it?” His voice is lower this time._

_Oh, now she knows. Her fingers touch her lips again, trying to remember the feeling. “It was different.”_

Inside the house, Harvey gets changed while Kenzie grabs the bottle of vodka and cranberry juice from the frigid. Micha is settled on the couch with his Familiar sitting on the floor by the coffee table. Kenzie doesn’t pour anyone a drink. Just leaves enough cups on the table and goes to her room after Harvey. She opens the door to find him sitting on the mattress without his shirt, head down between his knees. She closes the door and watches. He doesn’t lift up his head to look at her, his fingers are laced together on the back of his neck, she can hear him breath slowly. She takes few steps closer, weight shifting from one foot to the other. Even if she can’t tell what Harvey wants, it’s her job to take care of him, she comes around to sit next to him, tucking her dress under her. She looks down and Harvey’s hand quickly comes around to hold his side. She looks confused for a little bit before noticing what he’s holding, what he’s covering actually, there’s an angry red bruise on his right side, right under his ribs. 

Her eyes shift from the bruise to his face and to the bruise again, not sure what to do. But she doesn’t need to be sure, she just needs to do. She gets up and leaves the room, not closing the door behind her. Micha turns his head when she walks past the couch and straight to the kitchen.

“You alright?” Micha asks.

“Yeah.” She answers and disappears in the kitchen for couple minutes then walks out with a bag of ice in one hand, and one of Harvey’s whiskey bottles in the other. She rushes to their room again and shuts the door with her foot. Harvey looks up at her and she throws the ice bag at him, he catches it, wincing a little with the movement of his right arm. She sits next to him, watching him ice his two bruises, alternating between them when one gets too cold and take sips from the bottle before offering it to her.

She doesn’t take it, just watches him for a minute. She remembers the last time he got hurt, it was much worse than this but for some reason she didn’t feel responsible like she does now. She takes the bottle and places it against her lips, chugging down way more than just a sip and it burns going down her throat, her eyes squeeze shut and soon it’s numb, she puts the bottle down and wipes her mouth.

“Don’t be stupid again, I swear I won’t be your Familiar anymore.”

He discards the ice bag and lies back on the bed, his arm thrown over his eyes. She turns her head to looks at him. The room is still, it’s quiet and empty and as if everything collapsed except Harvey. How hurt he is, how he’s trying to hide it, to protect her somehow like she’s never seen pain before. For the first time Kenzie misses not having her memories, when she was an innocent child feeling out of place. Right now, she’s so aware of how different they are, of her demonic nature and her immortality and her human body that can’t feel what Harvey’s feeling.

“At my worst, I worry you’ll realize you deserve better. At my best, I worry you won’t.”

“A Softer World.” Kenzie smiles and crawls up on the bed, lying next to Harvey, her head touching his shoulder. They stay like that for long time. Not sleeping, but not talking. Kenzie draws so much comfort from being near Harvey and she doesn’t realize he feels the same. He just has hard time with getting words out. Maybe that’s why he reads to her, it’s how he communicates, he reads his favorite books and quotes and tells her those little stories to show her the only side of himself he likes. Kenzie feels him drifting off and she pulls the covers over him. Looking over at the alarm clock reading 3:31 p.m.

She takes the whiskey with her and leaves. Realizing Micha has been outside the whole time. She looks over to find him alone. He smiles to her and extends his hand. “C’mere.”

She drags her feet to the couch and throws herself down, head lying in his lap, and the bottle clutched to her chest.

“You can cry if you want.” 

She slaps his thigh and he laughs.

She does want to cry but she can’t, this isn’t the time and she should do a better job of controlling her emotions.

“So how long have you had her?” She asks.

“Valentine? Few months.” He runs his fingers through Kenzie’s hair.

Oh, so that’s her name

“Why’d you cut it?” He leans forward to grab the plastic cup he has on the table.

She shrugs.

“Harvey?” He takes a sip and sighs.

“If you knew, don’t ask.”

It’s always Harvey, he does know that. He knows more than anyone gives him credit for. He knows from first hand experience. When he was 21 and he thought that maybe Kenzie liked him back and he shared a moment or two with her, when he finally got to kiss her and Harvey walked in. When he was so blinded by Kenzie that he couldn’t see how he was being used. He wants to tell her, he wants to shake her and scream at the top of his lungs “Can’t you see what he’s doing? Did you even know what you were helping him do?” But she doesn’t know, she doesn’t know how Harvey didn’t like the turn his plan was taking so he told Micha everything, how he put Kenzie up to all this. Harvey likes to be in control, and seeing his little sister kissing someone wasn’t exactly part of the plan. Micha was so close to telling her the truth, that Harvey was summoning anther Familiar but he couldn’t do that to her. He did what Harvey asked and told her that he wants to be her friend and nothing more. He never saw that Familiar ever again, didn’t ask what happened or what Harvey did with him, but Harvey was happy, he did his spell and moved on.

Kenzie hears footsteps down the stairs and lifts her head to see Valentine walking down. She relaxes and lets Micha stroke her hair.

“How you been?” He asks.

She watches their reflections in the black T.V screen. “I don’t know. Living with the humans isn’t what I expected.”

“Do you like them?” He looks over at Valentine as she sits down on the floor and crosses her legs.

Kenzie doesn’t answer. She watches how Valentine has her eyes on them through the T.V screen.

“Do you want to like them? Because I was invited to a wedding and I can take you. You can meet a whole lot of humans.” He swallows the rest of his drink and crushes the small cup.

Kenzie lifts her head. “Can Harvey come?”

“Yeah the bastard can come too.” Micha tries to play it off casually but Kenzie can tell he’s trying to avoid telling her something.

She sits straight and opens the bottle. “I’m gonna try and get drunk now.”

She does a pretty good job of doing so. Kenzie’s biggest fear is never being able to stop thinking. It’s why she loves sleeping so much. When she’s asleep she can’t think, Harvey introduced her to alcohol later and that works better on humans than on her. She learned that if she drinks huge amounts without breaks, she can actually be slightly drunk for sometime. It does wear off quickly but that’s why they have more bottles in the kitchen.

“Maybe I should try this.” Valentine speaks for the first time and she has a smile on her face.

Kenzie looks at her. “It’s so much better being human.”

“Doubt that.” She leans her cheek against her hand and plays with the cups around the table.

“Better than floating from one Master to the other.” Kenzie doesn’t mean for it to come out rude but somehow it does.

“Better than never having a Master.” Valentine makes eye contact. “Would you rather live forever alone? Or just stay in Hell where we could die any day?”

Kenzie knows better than anyone what it means to be a lower demon, but she’ll go back to Hell any day over being separated from Harvey.

“Excuse me,” Micha leans forward, his eyebrows slightly raised and his eyes shift from Valentine to Kenzie. “What do you mean die? You’re demons.”

The two Familiars don’t break eye contact, Kenzie waiting to see if Valentine will lie to Micha.

Valentine looks away angrily and scoffs. “We’re just conduits, we take the power around us and give it to witches so their spells can be powerful.”

“Ya, you know what, I’m pretty sure I know what your job is Val, that wasn’t what I asked.”

Kenzie takes Micha’s hand and his attention turns to her. “Micha, what she means is, us lower demons have no power, we’re forged from Hellfire only to serve. We’re killed for fun or if a demon is in a bad mood. Why do you think we answer a witch’s summons? Up here we have a real purpose, we serve for a reason and we can’t die.”

Kenzie feels herself wake up, she’s thinking and that’s not what’s supposed to be happening. She grabs the whiskey bottle and takes a large chug. “How do you not know this? You’ve had one Familiar for every year.”

“They don’t feel like sharing their feelings with me.”

Valentine is clearly not happy with Kenzie for sharing anything. Valentine hasn’t been happy since Kenzie mentioned being human. Valentine is choosing to stay quiet so she doesn’t say something she’s not supposed to. She looks uneasy, trying to distract herself so she doesn’t get involved in their conversation. Kenzie can see Micha surprise at the new information he has now. He lifts his sleeves and reveals more tattoos on each arm before leaning back.

“Shit, so I’m a hero.” He smirks at Kenzie “I help demons.”

Kenzie spends the rest of the day lying in Micha’s lap and finishing the bottle of whisky all by herself. They talk, about leaving the coven, about her time alone with the humans, about Micha keeping in touch with Harvey. Kenzie’s not sure what to feel, she likes it, she likes not knowing, not having to know. It’s so much easier not to think or worry or be so alert all the time. Micha is easy to talk to, like when they were kids, seven years seems like such a long time to humans but it might as well be two months ago to Kenzie. She remembers the last time she saw him was right before Harvey disappeared nine months ago. The three of them went to the edge of the wood and stayed all day, even with the guys freezing, then Micha walked them back to the coven and left. It was nothing special, she wonders if Micha knew about Harvey leaving, if he kept it a secret. He knew where Harvey was all this time, did he ask about her or where she was. Kenzie doesn’t want to ask anything, she doesn’t want to know. The past doesn’t matter, nothing good can come from it. Kenzie starts to drift when Micha keep stroking her hair, gently pushing the hairs in one direction then the other. Falling asleep is so tempting, but she wants to talk to Micha, she doesn’t know when she’s gonna see him again but she can’t keep her eyes open anymore. The alcohol feels nice, like it’s running through her veins, like there’re small rivers on the inside, their sound so calming, so Kenzie let’s herself go.

Harvey wakes up a little after nine, he finds himself shirtless and half covered with the comforter. He looks out the window and finds it dark, then at the time. He sees the melted ice bag by his foot and winces when he tries to sit. He pulls a shirt and a jacket on before heading out of the room. He finds Micha and Valentine watching T.V with Kenzie asleep on the couch. He shakes the bedhead out of his hair and pulls the pack of cigarettes out of pocket.

“Hey mate, had a good nap?” Micha turns his head to see Harvey and waits.

“C’mon on out for a second.” Harvey nods his head towards he door and watches Micha slowly lift Kenzie’s head off his lap before walking to the front door. They shiver at the cold, Harvey handing a cigarette to Micha and placing one in his mouth and lighting it. Micha copies him and takes a long drag off his cigarette. He looks at Harvey, waiting.

Harvey doesn’t turn, just stares at all the trees around them. “Listen man, I need you to put that crush you have on my little sister in a box and lock it the fuck up.”

Harvey knows how charming Micha can be, he used it on girls just as much as he did on Kenzie, she was just too dense to notice. She thinks that Micha actually gave up after they kissed in that cottage. Harvey was very clear about his non-sharing tendencies. Micha played it off and joked but still chose the one person that Harvey refuses to share with anyone. But after what happened few years ago, Harvey needs to be sure that Micha won’t try anything.

Micha lets the cigarette sit between his fingers, eyes locked on Harvey, jaw clenched tight. He turns his entire body to face Harvey and nods his head few times. “She’s not little.”

Harvey seems to wait to answer on purpose, taking a drag and slowly exhaling it. “You’re my friend—“

“Well, I’m her friend too.” Micha interrupts.

Harvey finally looks at him, throwing his cigarette far away and putting his hands in his pockets. “She makes falling in love seem worth it—“

“Speaking from experience.”

Harvey doesn’t take lightly to being interrupted again, he keeps his eyes on Micha. “Kenzie is off limits. Don’t make me say it again.”

Micha isn’t thinking about it. He’s too irritated by the fact that he needs to answer to Harvey. That his best friend can be so stupid. Above that, he can’t think of a good enough reason to get on Harvey’s bad side. “Alright mate, I won’t try anything.” He offers what’s left of his cigarette with a half smile. “I gotta head out.”

Harvey goes inside and Valentine gets up like she knows it’s time to go. She doesn’t acknowledge Harvey, just walks out and finds Micha kicking the dirt next to his feet. She clears her throat and stands beside him.

“You clearly like her.”

“You have no idea.” He makes sure she doesn’t see his face, he starts walking and hears her follow. The cold getting to him and his hands aren’t getting any warmer, so he walks faster.

“Why didn’t you say something?”

There’s a pause, like he’s considering to actually answer or give an overly sarcastic answer. Valentine catches up to him and when she catches a glimpse of his face he looks pissed. “Because her brother scares the hell out of me.”

Kenzie makes Harvey dinner when she wakes up, it’s not an actual dinner, just a sandwich with extra mayo, the way he likes it, and they sit in front of the T.V while he eats. She grabs more ice for him and keep it pressed on his side with a pillow. Harvey looks happy, she tries to not let her smile look too dumb but she can’t help it. She realizes he took something, to get high or for the pain, either way he’s more talkative and interactive than usual. He explains to her few of the jokes from the movie so she’d understand them. She nods and laughs even if she doesn’t completely know what it means. There’s only so much she can learn from reading. Movies are a completely different culture that she needs time to comb through. Harvey once read her a book about a girl who dies half way through the book. It made her cry and she swore she wouldn’t let him finish reading. But he just smiled and promised it would be worth it. She still debates whether it was, but if she was sure of something, it’s that it was an amazing experience. If she can feel so much from a book, then the real thing must be so much better. She knows to trust Harvey now, that he’s always thinking of her so she doesn’t have to worry anymore. Books are the only way for her to feel something like what humans do. Maybe Harvey needs that push too, and he figured out how to get it.

Kathy comes over for the weekends. She makes Harvey sleep with her upstairs and Kenzie spends the night outside between the trees because Kathy is really loud and once she heard her brother she couldn’t stay in the house anymore. Kathy doesn’t pay attention to her now, it’s like she’s making an effort to ignore her. She doesn’t act nice, she looks mad whenever she cleans or enters the bedroom, her face would change, she’d come in to grab Harvey’s dirty laundry and look at Kenzie on the mattress reading, she gives a fake smile, and picks up the clothes. If Kenzie makes Harvey food she would swoop in and tell her how it’s all wrong, and all but kick her out of the kitchen so she can make him something. Kenzie starts noticing marks on Kathy’s body, her neck would have finger-shaped bruises, her legs have rope marks, her wrists rubbed raw and if she’d change in front of Kenzie then the long red lines on her back come to view. Some look like they’re old and there’s new ones on top. Before one heals she’d have the next one ready. Soon, Kathy wouldn’t be moaning upstairs, but screaming, she comes downstairs with her eyes looking puffy and red and wouldn’t look at Kenzie.

Harvey sends Kenzie to fill the truck up and when she comes back she finds him with Kathy in their bedroom. Kathy’s naked and her brother almost-naked, the loud moans would’ve warned her but Kathy is gagged and Harvey makes a low grunting noise that scares her so she’s frozen for a second. They don’t notice her so she just goes back outside and takes her dress off before turning to her animal form and running. She only comes back when she hears Harvey’s voice calling her, she strolls back to the house, as she gets closer she sees him standing by the front door with Kathy, he’s shirtless and holding Kenzie’s dress in a fist. Kathy has his shirt on, she’s shivering and rubbing her hands together, her thighs showing bruises on the inside. Kenzie hides in the bushes and turns back to her human form. She walks out into their view and sees Kathy’s face morph into unbelievable shock while she watches. Harvey waits until she’s by the steps before throwing the dress to her and telling her to get inside. She hears them arguing upstairs later. Kathy not happy, not sure about what this time. Harvey’s voice is calm or bored or in between. He’s shushing her and telling her to calm down. It makes Kathy angrier. Then they come down and Kathy walks to their bedroom, making sure Kenzie sees her and grabs her clothes and shoes. She has a smile on her face that says she won. Kenzie isn’t sure what the contest was.

Kenzie uses the upstairs bathroom for the first time, Harvey and Kathy are out on a date and she has nothing better to do. The tiles are cold and clean, in the middle lies a white claw foot bathtub with a silver pipe running from the ground in a straight line to the edge of the tub. Kenzie turns on the hot water, she doesn’t try to get the temperature down with some cold water, she likes it hot. Her old dress slips down her shoulders in one motion and she steps out of the bundle it made on the ground. She dips on foot in and it burns just a little. She figures she’ll get used to it. The steam rises up, filling the bathroom and covering the mirror. Kenzie sits down slowly, feeling her skin turn red from the near boiling water. Her head lays back against the now warm porcelain, eyes closed and body turning lax. Warmth is one of the best things humans can feel. Her body gets used to the heat fast, it becomes the new normal and Kenzie wants to spend all day here, she wants to sleep here.

Soon she does, somehow feeling safe, no coven to be worried about, Harvey’s ok and she has the whole quiet house to herself.

She hears her name being called, but it’s far away. The only reason she wakes up it because she knows it’s not a dream, so she has to answer who’s calling her. The water still feels hot, her entire body does, the steam clinging to her face and making small beads. It feels like heat is coming off her cheeks, she opens her eyes and hears her name again. It’s Harvey. She listens to the rushed footsteps up the stairs and waits. Her eyes stay on the slightly open bathroom door, then it’s being pushed open all the way and Harvey’s there.

He swallows, staying by the door.

“I didn’t run away.” She jokes.

He runs his fingers through his hair. “Good. Wouldn’t wanna put a collar on that neck.”

She smiles and he leaves, closing the door all the way behind him.

Kenzie soon hears Kathy’s voice, little drunk and giggly. She’s mumbling something to Harvey. Being on the same floor as them lets the noise reach Kenzie faster. She dips her lips in the water, trying to filter out the way Kathy moans, she forces her head underwater. Her eyes look up through the blurry surface. The air slowly leaves her lungs in the form of small bubbles, she blinks few times, feeling the water weigh her down. She sits up, water splashing out of the tub a little. She takes a deep breath and goes back under, she never tired this before, didn’t know she’d like it so much. She stays there until the steam starts to clear, the water getting on the warm side instead of scalding hot.

She doesn’t hear the door open, or Harvey walking to her, but she sees him stand over her with a questioning look. She breaks out of the water and blinks through her wet lashes. She looks up at him but he doesn’t say anything, he just kneels down next to the edge.

She waits for him to say something, or do something, but he doesn’t. He looks at her blushing face then down at the water, little lost. Kenzie feels her stomach churn. She reaches her hand out but stops. “Are you ok?”

He turns around, sitting facing the door and his head leans back against the tub. His eyes are closed. “I guess.”

“You can tell me.” She can’t see his face clearly from this angle, she pulls her knees up to her chest and shakes her hand a little to dry it before moving some hair away from his face.

“I miss spending time with you.” He admits.

She runs her damp fingers through his hair, getting it wet a little. “Me too.”

He relaxes at her touch, seeming like he might fall asleep. “You think it’s ever gonna be like before?”

So she’s not the only one who misses how things were. She thought she’s crazy, there’s nothing good to look back on. She watched Harvey suffer for years, how can she miss that. “The past is overrated.” 

What she really wanted to say was “I’m just as scared as you. What if it’s never the same?”

Harvey takes hold of her hand and kisses her open palm.

“I’ll still choose you.”

“And I’ll choose you.”

“Harvey.” Kathy’s voice seems like the end credits of a movie, it reminds Kenzie that she’ll only have limited time with Harvey as long as Kathy’s here.

Harvey lifts his head, eyes finally open. He doesn’t move to get up, shakes his hair and sighs.

“Harvey!” Kathy calls again.

Kenzie looks at him, wondering if he’s planning on answering.

“I’m coming.” He yells, face twisting in annoyance.

He turns around, looking into Kenzie eyes for the first time in a while. And she’s so confused, she wants to shake him and ask him what the hell is he doing, why doesn’t he think out loud. But he smiles and stands up. She watches him walk out and leave the door open a little. She realizes she’s been here long enough and she doesn’t wanna listen to them go another round this close by. She stands up, unplugging the drain and grabbing a towel.

She picks her dress off the floor and that’s when she hears Kathy’s voice again.

“What were you doing?” She hisses.

“Talking.” Harvey answers.

“While she’s in the bath, you guys couldn’t get any weirder.” Kathy tries to pass it off as a joke but Kenzie doesn’t need to see her face to tell that she’s upset.

Harvey leaves on one of his mysterious trips in the middle of the night while Kathy is sleeping. He tells Kenzie, whose up watching T.V, he’ll back in few hours and he’ll back with a gift. He gives her a kiss on her forehead and walks out. Kathy gets up and comes downstairs around 2 a.m asking about Harvey. Kenzie tells her but Kathy just rolls her eyes and goes into the kitchen. She comes out with a water bottle and sits on the couch. Kenzie doesn’t look at her, she keeps her eyes on the old comedy show. But Kenzie can see the way Kathy tries to hide her wrists, pulling the over-sized sweater. They sit in silence, Kathy frowning and Kenzie doing her best to understand all the jokes. She glances at Kathy and it was a mistake because Kathy straightens up.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“I didn’t look at you any which way.” Kenzie turn back to the T.V

“You think you’re better, I see how you look at me, like I should be pitied.”

“You want him to hurt you. That’s between you and him.” Kenzie pulls her eyes away and tells herself she won’t answer anymore. It’s not her place.

Kathy doesn’t say anything either, she gives Kenzie a disgusted look and let the silence take over again. Until Harvey comes back. It feels way longer than it actually was. Harvey has a brown paper bag in his hand, he sees the two looking at him and closes the door. Kathy is up in a second, she wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him. At first he doesn’t close his eyes. He just looks down at her, but she’s not letting go so he kisses back and gently pushes himself off. He walks over to Kenzie.

She sits straight, suddenly feeling self-conscious. She sees how pissed Kathy looks for being passed over. She crosses her arms and stares at Kenzie. Harvey sits down and opens the bag to get a pair of shoes out. It’s a black pump with a thin 3 inch heel. “For the wedding.” He explains. “Figured you have no shoes.”

Kenzie examines the shoes, and by the looks of them, she won’t be comfortable. She laughs at herself and looks up at Harvey. “Are you also gonna teach me how to walk in these? Better yet, how’d you get shoes at 2 in the morning?”

He runs his fingers through his hair. “Val had them set aside for you. Micha told her you’d need something for the party.” He says as he puts them back in the bag.

“You gotta be fuckin kiddin me.”

They both turn to Kathy, looking confused, Harvey’s over his confusion though, he leans back against the couch and turns to the T.V. It seems to anger Kathy. Kenzie waits for an explanation and glances at Harvey before focusing on Kathy.

“What’s wrong with you?” She’s talking to both of them.

“Kathy keep your fuckin voice down.” Harvey not asking, he’s ordering. Kenzie knows that tone so well, knows never to disobey it.

Kathy doesn’t obey. “I’m so sick of the gifts and the late chess games and how obsessed you are with your fuckin sister. She’s not all that innocent, like I’d believe that she’s so pure that she never fuckin lies. She’s a freak!”

That last part is what gets Harvey’s attention. He stands up, making Kathy flench but she doesn’t wanna step down. “Don’t call her that.” He’s ordering.

Kathy knows now she hit a nerve. “You share a bed! She’s not 10 for god’s sake. She’s 17 and I didn’t sign up for this shit. I didn’t wanna be a babysitter.” She’s almost out of breath.

Kenzie wants to laugh, she feels the exact same way. She has to babysit Kathy the whole time to make sure she doesn’t trip over any magic accidentally.

“Calm down.” Harvey isn’t even trying to sound caring.

“Don’t tell me what to do. This is my house! I don’t what a little bitch riding off—“

Kathy doesn’t see Harvey move. She just feels a tight grip on her throat and she can’t breath. She looks up and Harvey’s eyes are dead. “I said, don’t talk about my sister like that.”

Kenzie is standing between them, looking up at her brother, he’s so reckless and stupid. Killing her won’t solve anything. It’s just another problem. “Harvey she’s not worth it.” She grits her teeth and feels Kathy struggle behind her, Kathy is grabbing at anything, Kenzie’s back, her clothes.

Harvey drops her to the floor. Taking a step back. “I’ve been very clear with you. Don’t pull stupid shit like that again.”

Kenzie doesn’t want to leave her like this. Kathy looks so small, and hurt and she’s trying not to cry. Kenzie gets on her knees and tries to get a good look at Kathy’s face, but it’s hidden behind her hair. “Are you al—“ Kenzie hears the sound of a sharp slap but doesn’t completely feel it. Her head is turned from the force behind the slap. She blinks few times, brows coming together in confusion but she doesn’t have more time than that to process what happened. Harvey has a hold of Kathy, she’s not in Kenzie field of vision and she looks up so fast to find him dragging Kathy by the hair upstairs. Kathy is kicking and screaming, hands clawing at any part of Harvey she can reach but Harvey is big and he only needs one hand to control her entire body. They disappear at the top and Kenzie knows she’s not supposed to follow. She sits on the floor, listening to the sounds of flesh smacking and bones cracking, Kathy is begging. Her voice is gone from screaming, she’s babbling but Harvey isn’t answering. Kenzie feels the entire house shake somehow. Not with the sounds of the beating but with Harvey’s anger. She touches the cheek Kathy slapped and she doesn’t feel anything. There was ringing in her ear but it’s gone now, replaced with the crying of Kathy upstairs.

Kenzie finds a maxi dress in the bottom of the box of clothes she got from Kathy. It’s cotton candy pink with spaghetti straps and a lace piece across the chest. When she slips it on it’s long enough that it doesn’t show the pair of heels she got last night or her feet. She considers not wearing the shoes at all but it’s like Harvey heard her thinking it and doesn’t approve. He hands her the heels and they fit perfectly at first. Up until she walks out of the bedroom and feels the tight squeeze around her toes. Kenzie waits for Harvey by the front door, playing with the car keys. As the feeling in her feet start to numb she hears Harvey walk towards her. He’s wearing a black tuxedo, not sure where it came from, with an equally black dress shoe and a crooked bow. He’s holding his jacket on one arm and Kenzie’s on the other. She says she’ll wear it when they’re in town and he just sighs.

The ride is bumpy, it starts raining heavily not halfway through. Harvey turns on the old radio to get rid of the silence and every time he moves his hands Kenzie can see the small scratches on his knuckles. They’re both running on low amounts of sleep, Harvey’s used to it more than Kenzie. His eyes have a red rim around them. Kenzie wants to believe it’s because of the lack of sleep but she knows better. After what happened last night, Harvey wouldn’t stand being sober.

_When he comes downstairs he looks deflated, like he had no anger left in him. Kenzie hadn’t moved and he just walks past her to their bedroom and disappears for five long minutes. Kenzie tries to get up but she’s not sure if he’ll let her in. She feels like she thought about it forever but the sound of Harvey coming back snaps her out of it. He sits in front of her on the floor. His face looking dim and older than she’s ever seen. She wants to ask him if Kathy is alive but no words leave her mouth. He’s staring at her like he might cry. Maybe he already did. In that moment she doesn’t want to be human. She can’t imagine the pain of loving someone so much that it hurt just as much to see them hurt. She crawls in his lap and holds him. Let him hide his face in her shoulder and she runs her fingers down his neck and up again. She feels his heartbeat and the unbearable silence of hers._

_He doesn’t cry, he just stays close. She feels his hands on her back, his hair on her neck, and she can stay like this forever. She’s selfish enough that she wants Harvey to stay with her, where nothing can hurt him, but it’s more than that, being with him, in his arms, she’s safe and so happy and it’s addicting. She can’t bring herself to let go, it’s more than just her need to be human that keeps her close, it’s not the surface feeling she experiences, it’s Harvey. He makes her cling to those memories they had and she can feel so much from that, more than any human had ever made her feel. Harvey who took care of her for almost two years when she didn’t know anything and years after she did, Harvey who protected her even when she never needed it._

_She feels Harvey’s lips move against her skin before his voice comes out._

_“I didn’t kill her.”_

_Kenzie pulls her head back to look at him. He looks so tired._

_“You should sleep.” She cups his face and gives him a tilted smile._

_“I hate her.” His eyes are closed, he tries pull away from Kenzie hands but she doesn’t let him. “She thinks she’s so much better than us.”_

_Kenzie lets her hands runs down to his shoulders and settle there. Her eyes never leaving his face, she’s trying to understand what he’s getting at but as always unless he comes out and say it, no one knows what Harvey really means._

_He runs a hand over his mouth and chin, finally meeting Kenzie’s eyes. “Like we’re some dogs she picked up off the streets. I didn’t kill her, Kenzie, but I really wanted to. The shit she said about you..” he’s trying to apologize, he’s looking at Kenzie as of he said those things. “I just can’t stand her anymore. I can’t look at her face!”_

_“We can leave.”_

_“And stay where?” He pulls Kenzie off his lap in a fast motion, she falls to the ground and he’s on his feet. “You know how hard it was to find this place?” He paces back and forth, not sure what to do with his hands. “I’ve been putting up with her shit so we can stay here, I’m never gonna find an abandoned coven owned by a human again. This fell into my lap. If we leave then we either live with the humans or in another coven.”_

_“I don’t care.” Kenzie gets to her feet but doesn’t move. “I don’t really care where we go Harvey, all I want is to be away from our old coven, I never wanna go back.”_

_“Ya, you wanna be with the humans.” It’s meant to hurt her._

_She feels so conscious of how he’s looking at her. She let her eyes travel up and there’s such a thick weight on her chest. “What the hell does it matter who I’m with if it can’t be you.”_

The address they got from Micha was for a hotel downtown. If it wasn’t for the rain, They might have been able to see how nice it looks on the outside. Kenzie slips her jacket on and Harvey grabs an umbrella from the back seat for her. She gets down and as soon as the heels hit the wet pavement, she realizes she won’t be doing any running tonight. The doorman opens the door for them and Kenzie thanks him before closing the umbrella. She looks around the bright interior, the reception desk is on the left, the place has a black and white marble theme, there’s a large silver chandelier hanging from the ceiling, a soft grey carpet in the middle with a suede couch and two comfy-looking chairs around it. The elevators are on the opposite side of the reception desk. Harvey leads Kenzie by he hand to the desk where there’s a man and a woman behind it with a polite smile on their faces.

The woman is already talking to someone. A man dressed in a dark navy suite and his low hanging bun makes Kenzie do a double take.

“Train?”

It is him because he turns around and looks at them both with a smirk.

“You know Micha?” Kenzie asks.

“Don’t know who that is.” He points to Harvey “He invited me.”

Harvey walks to the desk. “Can we check in our coats?” He asks the lady.

“Of course.” She nods.

Train sneaks away from the desk and closer to Kenzie. She smiles at him. “You look nice.”

He nods “Heels?” He asks, barely holding his chuckle.

Her smile disappears and she looks away for a second. “Not funny, T.” She’s almost pouting and it makes Train really laugh now.

Short after, Micha and Valentine show up, Micha has grey suit with a vest underneath, few of his tattoos sneaking past his neck collar. Kenzie never seen him dressed up, he looks so different than his usual self. Valentine has a white sleeveless dress down to her knees and a pair of nude heels. The both of them fit perfectly together. Looking like they’re the ones getting married. Harvey introduces Train to them and Micha leads them to the ballroom where the wedding reception is being held. Kenzie finds the place entirely new, it’s different and pretty to look at. Everyone is dressed up, there’s a big bar on one side, a dance floor in the middle and high round tables neatly placed around the dance floor without chairs. Kenzie finds a waiter in front of her with a tray full of some kinda drink. She grabs one and Micha follows. Train says he’ll need something stronger and goes to the bar.

Kenzie tries to stay close to Harvey but he’s walking ahead with Valentine. She’s saying something and she doesn’t need to lean this close to talk, the music isn’t that loud. Kenzie watches as Valentine places her arm around his and they walk together. Micha has an arm around her waist guiding her towards the dance floor. She doesn’t like how Valentine is leaning too close to Harvey or how she’s being treated like child, no one asked her what she wanted to do. Micha takes the glass away and places it on an empty table along with his. He has his usual charming smile on, showing off his white teeth. Kenzie doesn’t want to ruin anyones mood so she plays along when he takes ahold of her on the dance floor, she rests both hands on his shoulder and looks up. Her eyes scan the place to find Harvey but there’s a lot of people, she gives up and meets Micha’s eyes.

“Why is your Familiar flirting with Harvey?”

“She’s not flirting, she’s being friendly. I told her to.”

“Why?” She’s impatient and she didn’t do a good job of hiding it. She doesn’t like Valentine very much, any Familiar that hides things from their Master shouldn’t be a Familiar. Valentine doesn’t seem like the type to follow orders and Kenzie hasn’t been wrong about people so far.

“Jealous?”

She gives him a look that says he’s not funny and waits.

“Because I know your brother’s gonna hog you the entire night and I miss you. He sees you everyday and I don’t.”

It’s sweet and she appreciates it and she wants to spend time with Micha. But she wants to spend time with Harvey too, she’s so tired of people getting between them. This wasn’t how it’s supposed to go. He said it’ll be just them, but they’re barely alone. She barely sees him. There’s Kathy, then Train, and Micha, now Micha’s Familiar too, and as much she likes having some friends, she only has one brother and no one can replace him. She doesn’t wanna take it out on Micha, it’s not his fault, Valentine maybe, but not his.

“Does it bother you?” Micha stops dancing.

She takes a small breath and reminds herself that Micha is the one who invited her here, she’s supposed to be having fun. She can’t lie so she doesn’t answer. She pulls him close and starts moving again.

“Harvey told me about what happened last night.”

Kenzie tenses, her face dropping and when she tries to say something Micha interrupts her. “Is he ok?”

Kenzie looks up, eyes slightly wide with surprise. He’s worried about Harvey not her. Before she answers anything she wants to ask how much did Harvey actually tell him. She quickly passes the thought. “I don’t know... he’s always on something, I can’t remember the last time he was sober.”

Micha tilts his head to try and see her expression. “You knew he’s got issues. You knew what you got into.”

“I can’t stand not being able to help. I’m freakin useless...”

Micha’s hands pulls her closer. “You’re too good for him.” He jokes.

Kenzie doesn’t like it. She can tell by his smile that there’s some truth to his words, or so he believes. She takes a step back and avoids looking at him. She walks away without saying anything. If she cared enough not to say anything so she doesn’t bother Micha, why can’t he do the same. She doesn’t have to deal with this, she doesn’t have to accept not spending time with Harvey. She heads to the bar to try and find Train but he’s not there. She sits on the high chair and starts looking around. But Micha is blocking her view. He stands in front of her with a bit of a confused look.

“I don’t know what happened to your sense of humor.” He chuckles.

She doesn’t bother looking at him, she continues to search for Harvey. “We both know you weren’t joking.”

“McKenzie, I just—“

She turns her eyes to him. Angry and serious. “You’re his friend. His best friend, Micha. You don’t see what he’s doing to himself?”

“He’s not a child.” He gives the bartender a glance and he turns to Kenzie again. “You know, I have this conversation a lot with you guys.” He mumbles to himself.

“What?” Kenzie waits for him to explain.

“You both see each other as the last man standing on earth and you go overboard and I gotta reminded you guys that neither of you is a child.” He shakes his head and takes the seat next to Kenzie.

“Micha!” She calls, trying to get him back on subject.

“Just spend some time with me and then we’ll find Harvey.”

Kenzie only agrees because she does want to spend time with him, finding Harvey does rank higher but she doesn’t wanna miss her chance to hang out with Micha. They get few shots going. And few turn into dozen, Kenzie’s high tolerance making her drink twice as much as Micha, he stops short after because he’s driving back but he watches how Kenzie gets giggly and blushing when she’s drunk. She starts pointing at the guests and telling Micha which of the girls are the prettiest. She says she jealous she’s not tall and that Micha should ask someone out. That all the girls look amazing and no guy can compete with him. Micha laughs and lets her talk, keeping an eye out for Harvey. Kenzie completely forgot about looking for him, she hasn’t consumed this much alcohol in one sitting since she was at the coven and Harvey came home with a cut lips, beat up face, and a stab wound to the shoulder. She stitched him up and they stole all the alcohol in Silver’s room and drank it. In a way, Kenzie has only been truly drunk one time and this counts as the second but she loves it. She likes how loose everything feels, how her head is floating, how she can sense every touch against Micha’s skin but it’s not the same, she’s not numb, like her body really belongs to her.

Kenzie gets down but her feet aren’t listening to her, Micha catches her fast, and she lets her head rest on his chest. Her eyes close and she doesn’t want to open them. Her hands lift but they’re moving too slow for her. She tries to hold herself up, eyes open and few blinks later she can see Micha’s face. He’s got an amused smile on.

“What the hell?”

Kenzie’s looking right at Micha but his lips didn’t move, and that’s not his voice. She sees Micha turns to the side and Kenzie does her best to follow where he’s looking. She finds Harvey with Valentine right behind him. Finally, he’s here. She tries to walk to him, hands extended up like a child asking for their mother. She hears herself whine but no words come out. Harvey catches her, quickly bending to sweep her off her feet, as soon as he carries her, she has her arms around his neck.

“She got drunk.” Micha explains.

“Why?” Harvey isn’t hiding how mad he is.

“Because she wanted to, mate. We had this talk, she can make her own decisions.” He slows down as if he’s speaking to a child.

Harvey lets his anger ride through, he cringes and pulls Kenzie closer before walking away. Harvey takes her to the bathroom. It’s more of a small living area with stalls, actually. He places her down on the one arm chaise and she doesn’t let go. He tries to pull her arms off but she hangs tight.

“Stay.” She whines.

“You need to sleep it off, smaller sister.” He tilts his head a little to kiss her shoulder and pulls her arms away. He looks at her and she’s smiling with her eyes half open. “Don’t move from here.” He orders and rubs her hand waiting for her to answer. She just nods and closes her eyes.

Kenzie wakes up in the same position she slept in. She tries to remember when she went to sleep, her head is so foggy. There’s bright light against her eyes, there’s pounding in the back of her skull. She sits straight and feel the rush to her head. She squeezes her eyes shut and covers them with her hands. Trying to focus on where she is and why. She gets few flashbacks of Harvey carrying her here and she traces it back to the drinks at the bar with Micha and then the wedding. A clear image of Harvey telling her not to move stands out. She considers it for about three seconds and gets up. She gets dizzy, she holds her head until the room stops spinning then kicks her heels off and walks away without them.

Kenzie’s eyes are trained to find Harvey, she’s still a bit drunk and the party is still going on which means she wasn’t sleeping for long. She looks in the bar first, but there’s no one she knows. She walks around for a little bit, the music feels like it’s coming from inside her head. This is the moment she regrets not bringing her phone. Kenzie gives up the search fast, wanting to step away from all the lights and the sounds. She looks at the bathroom as she walks away and catches a glimpse of a white dress against the wall. She stops on her tracks, eyes glued to the tall man leading Valentine by the waist while whispering her ear. Kenzie has stared at that back for years, it’s Harvey, big and strong and always standing between her and anything that could hurt her. Harvey and Valentine disappear into the bathroom and that’s when Kenzie isn’t drunk anymore.

She drags her feet to the lobby and straight to the reception desk, she looks at the girl who took their coats and smiles. The lady smiles back.

“Umm... did any of the guys came back for their coats?” She hears how cracked her voice is and clears her throat. “There was a guy with a bun and a tall guy with grey suite and tattoos.”

The lady nods twice. “The guy with the bun did. He left a short while ago. But I didn’t see anyone else.”

Kenzie shuts her eyes for a second and just nods. She turns to the sitting area, falling on the sofa and leaning her head back and covering her face with one arm. She listens to the soothing music and glances at the clock hanging behind the reception desk, it reads ten minutes to seven. Kenzie feels the sudden urge to cry. It comes out of nowhere and it’s not going away. She leans down, hiding her face on her knees, she tries to keep her voice down but the tears start coming, she presses her lips together and the more she tries to stay quiet the more her voice seeps out. This is not how she hoped the night would go. She’s alone, she got drunk and was still alone, Harvey barely spends five minutes with her, he’d rather be with Valentine who he doesn’t even know. She slept in the bathroom and Harvey still wouldn’t stay with her. It’s all Micha’s fault, he pushed Valentine and she hates Valentine. She hates her attitude and how easily she can lie. Now she’s all over Harvey, this is so wrong. Everything is all wrong. She spends the rest of the night by herself. She sees the guests leaving and while the reception is done, she still can’t find Harvey.

Kenzie spots him as soon as he’s off the elevator. He doesn’t look happy. He frantically looks around until his eyes land on hers. He strides to her and she gets up. She walks to him but he’s rushing, he gets hold of her arms and drags her off. They don’t get their coats and Kenzie doesn’t open her mouth. He rushes out the hotel, Kenzie in tow, she feels his grip tighten around her arm and she walks faster. She looks up at him waiting for him to say anything but he just looks angry. She wants to ask why, he was having fun while she was left alone. The tears well up to her eyes and as they cross the parking lot and get close to the truck her voice comes out.

He stops few feet short of the truck and turns to look at her, finally releasing her arm. He’s taken back by her broken face. She’s staring down and hiccuping, her red face getting wetter by the minute. “Why’d you leave me?”

Harvey shuts his eyes, taking a moment to gather his words. “I told you to stay put.”

“You left me alone the entire time.” She glances up and wipes her eyes.

“Kenzie I was very clear about my order.”

Kenzie stomps her foot down, she’s so frustrated and he’s so thick headed. She runs her eyes clear and takes a step closer. “What the fuck Harvey? You left me to go fuck around with some demon!”

“Keep your voice down.” He grits his teeth and his fists clench.

“Where were you?” She yells. “You don’t let me meet anyone but you’re never there anymore. Ever since we left the coven you...” she wants to stop, he’s telling to stop without actually saying it but the words just come out. “You don’t care anymore, I’m just a toy for you.”

“Kenzie, I said keep your voice down.” It’s not good to make Harvey repeat himself.

“You won’t even let me do my job but Micha’s Familiar is good enough!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t hide behind me like a scared little girl and I’ll start treating you like a Familiar.” He spits back.

“I don’t hide behind you because I’m scared, I do it because I know it’s safe.”

Harvey stares, waiting for an explanation for that statement.

“When you summoned me, it was all a blur, it still is for some reason. I remember bits and pieces of you and walking back to the coven, and then suddenly I’m up in your room and Silver’s yelling but you stand between us and all I see is your back. I know it’s so stupid for a demon to feel safe, I should always be safe, I can’t die but I just knew you’d protect me and you did. For years I know that I’m safe whenever you’re in front of me.” Her breath leaves her in a shudder and she look down.

“I wasn’t reading her a bedtime story, I don’t suddenly feel the urge to raise her as my sister, don’t be stupid. Why are you so fuckin childish sometimes.”

“So if you’re just fuckin it’s all good?” She’s pushing again, voice getting louder. “I’m still alone, I was better off back in the coven. I hope a demon was worth—“

Harvey has his hand wrapped around her throat, he spins her fast, violently throwing her against the truck. He doesn’t feel a pulse under his fingers and he tightens his grip, feeling her chokers leave marks on his fingers. He watches Kenzie’s face crumple, she’s not crying anymore.

“How many times are you gonna disobey me, beloved sister?”

She lifts her hand to pull at the hand wrapped around her neck but stops halfway and lets them drop to her side. She can’t get her voice out, he’s pressing too tight and suddenly there’s no air coming in. She opens her mouth to gasp, trying to breath but his hand is so strong, it’s covering her entire neck and the press of her necklace is making it worse.

Harvey lets go and she drops to the floor. She coughs, holding her neck, inhaling large amounts of air. She can’t lift her head to look at him. She feels the heavy weight of his gaze on her. Her shoulders tense in anticipation, waiting for what comes next.

“Look at me.”

“Why?”

“‘Cause I don’t want you looking at anyone else.”

She looks up at him but he’s already walking to the driver door. She pulls herself up to her feet and gets in the truck.

Kenzie doesn’t leave the bedroom, but she’s not sleeping. She hears Harvey leave with his cigarette before dawn and then the sound of T.V in the living room. She doesn’t move, she hasn’t moved. She’s still in her dress, her phone on the floor by the mattress has few texts and a missed call from Micha. She stares when the screen lights up but she doesn’t move to get it. Sleep isn’t coming, and she doesn’t want to stay like this. It all feels so far away, the party, what Micha said, Harvey and Valentine spending the night together. It feels unimportant and Kenzie questions her words to Harvey earlier.

Was a demon worth it?

Worth what exactly? Kenzie wants the answer to that. Why did she get so upset over this. Is she so selfish that the idea of sharing Harvey is so out there for her. She figures he was never hers, he’s real, he was always here, she was called, she was brought here to serve and she has no right to get so emotional. She shouldn’t be able to get emotional.

Kenzie decides to leave the bed, heading to the bathroom to shed the night off, she catches herself in the mirror before she can close the door. She walks closer and notices the mess her hair is, the short blonde strands standing out in every direction, as her eyes travel lower she notices the finger shaped bruises around her neck. Her eyes stick to that spot, she lifts her hand to take her chokers off and see the prints they also left behind. She places them on the edge of the sink and takes a deep breath, keeping her head down. Is she really worth it? Is she worth the trouble? Maybe Harvey just wants to live his life and she’s the one dragging him down. Maybe she shouldn’t feel like she’s losing him because she never had him. Kenzie slowly lifts her head only to find Harvey’s reflection staring at her. She stands still, watching him move closer from the door frame until he’s standing right behind her. She’s afraid to look away, to move, to breathe. He takes the cigarette out of his mouth and blows the smoke so close to her ear. His eyes drop to her neck, lingering there for a while. Studying his work, remembering the way it looked before, maybe. Then he’s leaning closer and his lips almost touch all the blue on her neck.

“Pretty.” He whispers.

Kenzie finally breaks her gaze and when she can’t see what he’s doing she feels him move away then the sound of him inhaling the cigarette. She feels his fingers on her back, his other hand follows and the loud sound of her zipper ripping the silence. And she’s alone.

At dawn, Harvey and Kenzie are outside. Harvey is preparing for a spell. He has a book placed open on a wooden table he got from the house. There’s a large symbol carved into it, done by Harvey, and few candles around the book. Under the book is a small blade covered in symbols, most of which Kenzie recognizes as the ones used for sacrifices. Harvey doesn’t say what the spell is for. Kenzie knows better than to ask. Her only job is to absorb as much power for Harvey to use. Kenzie can count on her fingers the amount of times she actually helped Harvey preform a spell. He can normally manage to keep her out of it, as ironic as that is. He preforms a lot of spells that haven’t been done. Old magic that most witches are afraid to touch, she has no reason to worry but she assumed Harvey would wonder why no one tried these spells before. He doesn’t care. Kenzie can sense the dark aura emitting from the book and surrounding Harvey. It’s like a thick fog that grows out the more power Kenzie channels to him.

Harvey starts chanting, his eyes are closed and his face pointed up to the sky. The flames from the candles increase, rising high and getting hotter. Kenzie tries not to lose her focus, maintaining an even flow to Harvey, there’s a lot to deal with, the ground is full of so much magic, thousands of years of witches practicing makes it difficult to filter or manage how much she’s absorbing. Kenzie stays on her guard, expanding her field of vision in a way so she can keep track of anything happening around the barrier. She wants to make sure that Kathy doesn’t walk in while they’re in the middle of this.

But instead, she senses something else. It’s not inside the barrier but it’s close enough and she’s sure Harvey wouldn’t like having anything near the barrier. She takes a step back from the table.

“There’s a human... no, two... they’re outside the barrier.”

Harvey stops completely, turning to give Kenzie his full attention. He looks annoyed more than angry. “Get rid of them.” He orders.

Kenzie nods and starts walking into the woods. The sun is still rising, just the edges barely showing. The cold morning air completely still and the cracking sound of Kenzie’s footsteps echoing loud. Kenzie enjoys this time of day more than anything. It’s not bright, but it’s dark enough that it feels like night. The woods look alive with the grey toned sky seeping through. There’s still wet spots from when it rained earlier at night. Kenzie tries to avoid them, hopping over the rocks and walking on the dried leaves. Her dress is coming a bit short of her knees which makes it much easier to walk in than the dress she wore to the party. She walks for almost 2 miles in the direction she senses the human are and she tries to hurry so she can get back to finish the spell.

The sun is out when Kenzie steps from between the tall trees to find an open spot with two logs on the ground and two guys sitting across from each other. They both turn to her as soon as she’s visible. They have a case of beer between them and a duffle bag left forgotten behind them. The short guy on the left with the blue eyes stands up but doesn’t take any steps towards her.

“Hey...” Blue Eyes says.

Kenzie feels them eyeing her. Watching her summer dress that looks like a napkin with flowers on it in this type of weather. They see her bare feet and the clear view her low cut dress offers to her bruised neck.

“You should leave. If you get any deeper in the woods you won’t make it out.” She moves her gaze from Blue Eyes the guy sitting down still. They both look confused, then it turns to fear but they do a fairly good job at disguising it. But she’s better at catching it.

Blue Eyes walks closer to her, glancing back at his friend for a quick second. “We’re just hanging out here. Our friend told us about this spot.” He swallows and his hand extends to her, gesturing to her condition. “Are you alright?”

Kenzie shifts her wight on her feet. “Are you gonna leave now?”

The guy sitting down finally gets up, catching up his friend and Kenzie can see his wide frame and thick dark brows. “We heard a lot about some hikers disappearing here but it’s not real.” He’s hiding his fear with skepticism.

“It’s whatever you believe. Just don’t come here again.”

Kenzie doesn’t understand the concerned look they both have on their face.

“Why?” Thick Brows fiddles with his beer.

“I can’t stay long and I’m getting the feeling that you’re not understanding me. You can’t stay and you can’t come back.”

Blue Eyes seems to have a different idea. “We’re not trespassing. We didn’t see any signs.”

Kenzie takes a step closer and they both flinch. “You can get lost here and die, or worse.”

Harvey can find you. She can’t say that.

Thick brows looks down at his beer. “I don’t remember drinking that much.” He shakes his head and looks over to his friend. “You’re seeing this too?”

Kenzie feels the fear coming off them. Realizing what a mistake it was for her to come instead of Harvey. Harvey would have been much scarier but he would’ve been more efficient. Her appearance, her size, and her inability to tell what they’re thinking seeing as she’s not human herself, is all playing against her.

“Are you ok, kid?”

She can’t tell which one of them spoke. There’s someone else here. Hiding, but close enough that Kenzie can sense it. Definitely not human. Whatever it is, it’s using the humans as cover, thinking if Kenzie focuses on them, it’ll escape. She hears the two guys talking again, not sure to each other or to her but it’s annoying.

“Shut up!” She warns.

Kenzie walks closer, making he guys freeze in their place, but as she gets closer she can tell which direction the person is hiding. It feels like it’s getting closer too, like it’s coming to her. She glances back at the humans and wonders how fast can she get them out of here, or if they start running how long will she be able to keep whoever it is occupied. She doesn’t have time to think about before she hears the rustling of the trees as someone emerges from her right. Three pairs of eyes turn to see a plain looking girl with messy black hair and a lazy smile. She’s dressed for the weather, hat, coat, scarf, but somehow her nose still pink from the cold.

“Sorry I took too long, kinda distracted myself.” She laughs to her own joke and walks straight to Kenzie.

Kenzie can tell now that it’s a demon. Not one she knows, she can’t recognize the smell or the face underneath the human mask. There’s nothing ominous coming from her, but Kenzie keeps on her toes, this is not the day she’s gonna start trusting demons she doesn’t know.

“Alright, thanks boys, you can head home.” She rubs her hands together and the guys, who seem to know her, actually listen. They take their bag and reluctantly walk away, looking back at Kenzie with worry up until she can’t see them anymore.

“I’m Tori by the by.” The girl says and extends her hand.

Kenzie doesn’t move, she looks down at the hand she’s supposed to shake and back at Tori.

“Ok.” Tori pulls back. “Grumpy.” She mumbles.

“Who are you?”

“I just said... were you not listening?”

“There’s a barrier here for a reason. My Master doesn’t like company.”

“Ya? No shit? Well, why do you think I had to lure you out here with those dumb-dumbs?” She laughs again and the cold air comes rushing out of her mouth.

“What do you want?”

Tori presses her lips together, finally looking serious. She takes her hat off and shoving it in her pocket. “Stupid meat suit.” She looks genuinely cold which makes Kenzie question what kind of demon can feel cold, or anything.

“I’m not here to hurt you or your Master, the opposite actually, I wanna warn you about Val.” She swallows and doesn’t give Kenzie a chance to get a word out. “I’ve been tracking her for months, she’s trying to kill Harvey and I thought it’s only fair that he would know.”

“What?”

“Well, I can’t get to him, he’s too strong and honestly I don’t wanna die, so talking to his Familiar was the next best thing.”

Kenzie tries to process the information as fast as possible so she can keep up. So many questions coming up and can’t pick which one to ask first. “Valentine?” That’s all that comes out.

Tori nods fast. “Ya, so... you’re gonna tell him right? So he can watch out.”

Kenzie’s having a hard time keeping her mind focused. Why is Valentine trying to kill Harvey. She can’t even question Tori’s motives because she can tell the girl isn’t lying. Or at least she truly believes what she’s saying

“Ok wow you’re slow.” Tori takes a deep breath. “Girlie, my human body is kinda rotting so I need you to tell me you understand so my job can be done here.”

Kenzie looks up, meeting Tori’s eyes, she scans her, trying to understand what she’s talking about and it clicks, the reason a demon would feel anything is if they’re dying. Tori isn’t dying, her human body is, if she’s been in it too long and it doesn’t age, it starts catching up after hundred years or so.

“Why?” Kenzie feels her dry throat itching when she tries to talk. “Why is Valentine trying to kill him?” Important questions first.

Tori straightens up. “I don’t know. Look, I know he’s all powerful and no one can touch him but you will tell him, right?”

“Of course.” Kenzie sounds offended with Tori’s suggestion that she would hide anything from her Master. “But you need to explain this. I can’t just take the word of every demon I meet.” Kenzie can tell with certainty that Tori is telling the truth, but for the sake of being thorough and convincing Harvey, she needs more to go on.

Tori doesn’t wanna talk, she knows more than she’s letting on, she’s really weighing the option of leaving right now, she did what she had to do, she doesn’t need to force herself to say anything.

Kenzie feels the wind get stronger and Tori shivers. Kenzie pulls her feet and walks closer, finally moving. “You need to switch bodies or you’ll be in Hell.” Metaphorically, of course.

Tori is a bit shocked by Kenzie’s concern but she shrugs it off quickly. “It’s up to you.”

Kenzie then realizes that she’s wasting time standing here instead of heading back to tell Harvey.

“Um, one last thing,” Tori adds, “Don’t mention me.” She gives a weak smile. “I don’t want to...” she searches for the right word. “It’s just that Harvey is famous for his killing sprees and I don’t wanna die... I think I mentioned that before.”

Kenzie is taken back, maybe by the obvious fear on Tori’s face or by the reputation Harvey has which she understands but didn’t know existed. It’s no secret that Harvey is all powerful and all too scary and no witch is safe, but Kenzie never knew how everyone really saw him. She never knew that the Familiars could be scared too. Demons can’t die, Harvey managed to make them scared too.

“Did your Master send you?”

Tori puffs and her shoulders tense. “I don’t have one.”

Kenzie shifts on her feet and her brows furrow. She waits for an explanation but it doesn’t come. “Why?”

Tori looks away. “I don’t need one.” She turns around and starts walking. Kenzie doesn’t do anything to stop her. Her priority right now is to get back to Harvey.

Last night comes rushing back, Valentine spent the whole night with Harvey. She had every opportunity to kill him, she still wouldn’t be able to do it. Kenzie wants to kick herself for being so scared. Harvey is a witch, doesn’t matter how immortal demons are, Valentine still wouldn’t be able to kill him. Worse than that, she hates that she wasn’t able to sense it. There’s so many things wrong with this picture. Micha has always been with Harvey, how could he not tell that his new Familiar has a killing tendency. Kenzie always knew that Harvey can be very unbothered by almost everything but it’s her job to watch out for him. She wants to talk to Micha, to ask him how did he find Valentine, how can he be so careless.

Micha has been here for almost as long as Harvey and he brought Valentine, she’s been in their house, she’s been alone with him more times than Kenzie can count. It’s so infuriating.

“Took you long enough.”

Harvey’s in the kitchen with a cigarette in one hand and a bowl of cereal on the table. He rubs his temple and blows out smoke.

Kenzie lets the door swing shut behind her as she walks to Harvey. She pulls her chair closer. “Harvey I ran into someone and I think I should let you know what happened.”

“I’m really sure you should let me know.” He turns to her and his cigarette drop to the ashtray.

“I think we shouldn’t trust Valentine, we don’t really know her and she might be trying to kill you.”

Harvey blinks at her, his eyes wander to the side for a second before meeting Kenzie’s eyes again. “Say that again?” He chuckles and doesn’t wait for an answer. “Who told you this?”

“A demon.” If he asks for more she won’t be able to lie. “I know she was telling the truth. Please can we talk to Micha or her.”

Harvey picks up his cigarette and leans closer. “You’re cute.”

“Harvey!” She pats his knee hard. “Please, please, I don’t want you to see her. Let’s see if this is true first.”

Harvey gets up. “Little Val can’t kill me, she’d drop dead before she can try.”

Kenzie starts following him. “But—“

“But nothing, smaller sister. I need to leave and Kathy is stopping by.” He stops and hands her his cigarette. “Stay away from her, if she lays a finger on you...”

Kenzie breathes loudly, clearly frustrated. “I don’t care about her, Harvey. Are you listening to me? You shouldn’t see Valentine.”

He ignores her and walks to their room. Kenzie stands there with a Harvey’s burning cigarette and the chilly air. She watches him get dressed and grab his keys, he turns to her and when he sees the look on her face he smiles, the smile that Kenzie loves. She stomps over to him, he leans against the door frame and waits, watches the pout on her face and how she lifts up to her toes to place a kiss on his cheek.

His smile grows. “That’s a good girl.”

As soon as Harvey leaves Kenzie hears her phone ring in the bedroom. Somehow that draws her attention to the fact that she hasn’t slept all night. Her feet drag behind, she forces her eyes open and flops down on the bed to grab her phone. She sees Train’s name and then looks at the time, It’s very unusual for anyone to call at 8:21 a.m but she answers.

“Yes.”

“Where are your manners young lady?”

Kenzie wants to roll her eyes but he can’t see her. “I repeat, yes.”

“I wanted to find you last night but you disappeared.” His tone changes.

Kenzie sits up. “I was napping in the bathroom. Long story.”

“Ok. I wanted to ask you or Harvey about Valentine.”

Twice in one day isn’t a good sign. “Why?”

His voice is lower when he speaks. “I know I’m not the most reliable witch since...I’m not one, but that Familiar isn’t right. You should keep an eye on her.”

Kenzie has no reason to think Train is lying, Train seems to care so much about Harvey. She’s happy someone is watching out for him, witch or not, she can’t just blow off what he says because he’s never practiced. Tori seemed honest, Train seems concerned, she trusts Train because he didn’t lie to her once and that’s good enough for her. Tori on the other hand, even though she wasn’t lying, is a demon. Demons lie, demons don’t care about humans, demons don’t do favors or charities. Tori was so scared of Harvey, she was so terrified that she didn’t wanna be mentioned but still she came all the way and risked it, there was a huge chance Harvey could’ve been the one to come out instead of her. Tori still felt that it was important to warn him about Valentine. Kenzie realizes she should be talking to Micha at this point.

“Did you talk to Harvey?”

“He’s not answering. Anyway, keep an eye on her.”

“I will. Thanks for calling.”


	5. Chapter 5

Kenzie reads Micha’s texts. Short three messages.

_Are you alright, shrimp?_

_Where did you go?_

_Let me know that you’re ok._

Kenzie wants to call him back but she’ll fall asleep before he gets a chance to answer. So she types a quick replay.

_I’m fine. Didn’t sleep all night. Come over later, just you._

As soon as she drops her phone, her head hits the pillow and she’s out like a light.

Kenzie wakes up tired, the sound of the floor boards pulling her out of sleep slowly. She doesn’t wanna open her eyes, her body telling her she didn’t sleep nearly enough. She feels the sunlight through her closed lids and the sound of footsteps outside remind her that she needs see who’s inside. She turns her head away from the window and yawns, slowly moving her limps out to stretch before reaching for her phone to see the time, 2:12 p.m. and that gets a whine out of her. She definitely wants to sleep more. She pulls herself out of bed, her feet hitting the hard wood floor with a thud, she opens the bedroom door while rubbing her eyes. In the corner she catches Kathy’s blond hair going into the kitchen then the sound of the T.V draws her attention. Micha sits on the couch without paying any attention to the T.V. He’s focused on his phone, typing fast texts, until he looks up and sees Kenzie walking to him.

“Hey sleeping beauty.” He smiles wide.

Kenzie drops next to him, lying on his lap and tucking her feet to fit on the couch.

“Did I wake you?” He asks, putting his phone down. That’s when he notices the large hand shaped bruise on her neck.

She shakes her head and yawns again.

He wants to ask what happened but he can’t seem to find the words. He swallows. “Great. Where’s Harvey?”

“I don’t know. He left right before I texted you.”

“Why am I here?”

She’s still too sleepy to talk but he came and he’s alone and Harvey isn’t here, she can’t pass up this opportunity. She gets up and looks over at the kitchen, Micha following her eyes.

“Oh, someone’s in trouble.”

She squints at him. “Lets’s go to the bedroom.” She takes his hand and pulls him with her, he snatches his phone quickly before he’s dragged away.

Kenzie closes the door and Micha makes himself comfortable on the mattress. She doesn’t sit down though. She keeps her back pressed against the door and her weight shifts on her feet for a minute before she’s gathered all her words.

“How well do you know Valentine?”

Micha thinks about it for a second. “I summoned her five months ago maybe. So, not very well.”

“But what do you know about her?”

Micha can tell Kenzie is worried about something, she doesn’t just show interest in people for no reason. “What’s this about, shrimp?”

Her fingers tap on the door few times, not sure how to get this out. “It’s just... weird that I got two people telling me to watch out for her... that,” she stops herself, maybe it’s doubt, maybe it sounds dumb out loud because she’s taking a demon’s word to face value.

Micha stands up, reading Kenzie’s face which is telling him how serious this is. “That what?”

“That... she wants to kill Harvey.”

“Who said this?” He’s clearly thinking this is a joke.

“A demon. I know we lie a lot but she wasn’t lying, I’d be able to tell—“

“I believe you.” He cuts her off.

Kenzie looks confused, she looks at him and sees that he’s telling the truth.

“Look, I know you never lie, and you’re basically a human lie detector, without the human part.” He sighs and crosses his arms.

“So what do you know about her?”

Micha rubs his chin and searches for a minute, trying to put all the pieces together. “She said she lost her Master and when she heard my summons she answered. She seemed fine with being my Familiar temporarily. That’s really all I know.”

That doesn’t really help much. Kenzie thought Micha would have some substantial evidence, information that only he would know. Any kind of proof would help right now, all she needs is something to make Harvey believe that Valentine might be trying to kill him. Kenzie moves finally, sitting on the edge of the mattress and staring hard at the floor like they have the answer.

Micha settles next to her. “You told Harvey?”

“He doesn’t believe she’s a threat. Maybe she’s not, but I can’t just sit by, if there’s any truth to this, it’s my job to protect him.” She doesn’t want Micha to see how much all this is hurting her, it shouldn’t be, she shouldn’t feel. A Familiar would just do their job, they wouldn’t be scared or worried.

Micha wraps one arm around her shoulder, pulling her to his side. “I’ll look into it.”

“She’ll lie. She doesn’t care that you’re her Master.”

“Then I’ll get the truth out one way or another. You think I’m letting that bastard die and leave me alone with you?”

Kenzie forces the smile to show Micha she’s a little better. She pulls away and looks at him. “You sure you don’t know anything else?”

Micha takes a breath and shakes his head, but his face contorts quickly, obviously remembering something. “She said she only had one Master, so when he.. or she died, she didn’t wanna stay up here anymore. It really hit her hard.”

That Kenzie can understand. The thought of losing Harvey is driving her crazy, but to actually have him die and being forced to live without him, Valentine doesn’t seem like the bad guy anymore. It doesn’t give her an excuse to wanna kill Harvey, which makes Kenzie really wonder why would she have a grudge against him.

“So you don’t know her Master’s name or when they died... or which coven she was with?”

Micha doesn’t need to think about that one too long. “About ten months ago. She mentioned that few times.”

“So her Master died the same time Harvey left the coven?” There’s no coincidence when it comes to magic.

Micha catches on pretty fast. “No... that... that’s stupid. It’s just a coincidence...” He doesn’t believe his own words.

“Ok before you go crazy, Harvey did notcheat on you, I’m sure you’re his only Familiar.”

Kenzie thinks about all the times Harvey left her, the long days, the sneaking, learning all his dark magic, never asking her for help, never taking her anywhere with him even though that’s exactly what all witches do. Her feet pull her up on their own. She stands frozen, no wonder Harvey didn’t mind Valentine clinging to him, he knew her.

“McKenzie.”

She hears Micha’s loud voice and he’s right in front of her. “He only has you, alright? Whatever this is, it’s something else.”

She can’t get the thought out of her head that fast, she doesn’t think she can ever get it out. It’s too much, she doesn’t wanna believe it because it’s Harvey, it’s the big brother that gave her the human life she always wanted. It’s not about Valentine, it has nothing to do with her. Micha is right, this is something else.

“It’s something else.” She repeats.

Micha leads her out of the bedroom but it’s clear that the seed has been planted and she’s not letting this go. Micha can’t really wrap his head around how close the two of them are. Demons aren’t supposed to feel so much, they’re not supposed to care, but Kenzie is very attached to Harvey. Harvey on the other hand, when Micha met him, he thought he was the scariest witch he’s ever met and he didn’t meet that many. Micha never thought that Harvey had another side, let alone one that cared for a demon. A very young demon with no memories, and Harvey was taking care of her all the time. He protected her, kept her away from his dark magic, did everything in his power to keep her safe and by his side. Micha can get a clear idea of how hurt Kenzie would be if she found out Harvey has another Familiar for all those years. He might have done it once, but it was for a single spell. But he knows better, he knows Harvey wouldn’t do that, he might be easy going when it comes to breaking the rules, but he always drew the line when it came to Kenzie. She was the one good thing in his life. Not to mention the disapproving looks Micha would get when he’d show up with a new Familiar.

Micha sees Kathy before Kenzie does, she’s coming out of the basement with a laundry basket on her hip. Kathy stops on her tracks and gives them both a look, not saying anything. Kenzie remembers the obvious bruise and her hand comes up to touch her neck. She can’t hide it, it’s too late, and she feels dumb worrying about what Kathy thinks. Micha though, she needs to say something to him. She’s surprised he didn’t mention anything yet. Kathy stomps away, anger radiating off her in waves as she heads upstairs. 

“It was a stupid fight. Nothing happened.” She explains as she walks away. She doesn’t wanna talk about it but this is Micha, he’ll understand. If she can’t talk to him about Harvey, then there’s no one.

“That bruise doesn’t look stupid.”

“I can’t feel it anyway.”

“That’s besides the point.”

“What’s the point then?”

“That he hurt you.”

“He didn’t. I said I can’t feel it.”

Micha sighs, clearly frustrated and walks to Kenzie. He sits her down on the couch and sits across on the coffee table. She doesn’t look at him. “McKenzie it’s me, you can tell me anything.” He places his hand on her bare knee and waits.

“It’s not that serious, Micha.” She scoffs and looks up. It was stupid. She shouldn’t yell at Harvey, she knew that and still did it. She can’t be whining about the consequences now. Harvey isn’t mad anymore and that’s what matters.

They both turn to the sound of the door opening. Harvey drops his keys at the table and stares. His eyes go straight to the hand on Kenzie’s knee, than her face, then he looks at Micha. He shuts the door with his foot.

“Hey guys.”

Kenzie smiles, unsure. “Hey.”

Micha gets up with a noise in the back of his throat. “That’s my cue. I gotta head out.”

Harvey waits, he doesn’t move from his spot by the door, and he’s not looking at Kenzie anymore. He watches Micha get closer and he opens he door for him before slipping out too. Micha stands on the front steps with his face turned back. He knows Harvey has something to say. Harvey doesn’t say anything though. He stands with his back to the closed door, looking down at the steps, maybe he’s waiting for Micha to say something.

“She was telling me about Val. I know you don’t scare easy, but I’m still gonna look into it, alright mate?”

“I don’t care how worried you are,” Harvey looks up, running his fingers through his hair and taking a step closer to Micha. “You can’t touch her, you can’t come near her, you can’t show her affection, you can’t be closer to her than I am. She belongs to me and I won’t accept any less.”

Micha knows this is the time to bring up his concern for Harvey, he wants to get to the bottom of this as much as Kenzie, that’s all this is about. But when he opens his mouth, that’s not what he hears coming out. “Don’t bullshit me, I saw what you did. You really care that much, maybe hitting her isn’t the best way to show it.”

Harvey’s eyes shift, the black pushing wide, almost covering the gray on his left eye. “This is where I draw the line, Micha. If you really care about me you’re gonna back off, I don’t want you anywhere near her anymore. Our friendship is one thing, and my sister is another.”

Micha doesn’t need to think about it. He cares about them both just the same. He definitely owes Harvey more. Harvey helped him through a lot, taught him, and stayed by his side when he had no one to turn to. It’s irrational to care about a demon. She doesn’t feel pain, she’s immortal and Micha will eventually die, there’s nothing good that can come out of this. Harvey said it, it’s a crush, It’ll pass, even after all those years. He didn’t do anything about it because he knew better.

But now, if he worries about her then Harvey just assumes things like the asshole he is. Micha can’t convince him that this has nothing to do with his feelings, he cares about Harvey enough to keep his hands to himself, but the challenge is getting it through Harvey’s thick head.

“I don’t go back on my word. I said I’ll back off.” Micha still looks pissed, but he doesn’t need to explain that to Harvey.

Harvey can’t say he’s letting this go. He gives Micha a dirty look before turning and disappearing inside. Kenzie hasn’t moved from her spot. She looks nervous, she sits on her heels and waits.

“What the hell was that?”

“Kathy’s still here.” She reminds him.

He clenches his jaw, looking away for a second. “Kenzie why you meeting Micha behind my back?”

Kenzie isn’t as nervous as she’s confused now. “It wasn’t behind your back. I just wanted to tell him about Valentine, to see if he knew anything.” Kenzie feels the lack of sleep hitting her, like a magnet pulling her head apart.

“I don’t care about Val! I trust you, Kenzie.” As he walks closer, his voice gets louder. “I trust that when I leave you alone, you really are alone. Not inviting my friends over.”

“He’s my friend too.” She frowns.

“What’s gotten into you, ever since we left the coven—“

Kenzie stands up “Ever since we left you’re different. All you do is hide things from me, and now I have to ask your permission to see Micha?” Her voice shakes, and the bruise feels hot, like a warning, reminding her to behave.

Harvey breathes through his nose, looking angrier by the second, he rushes to her and she stumbles back, he kicks the coffee table out of his way but stops short, doesn’t reach for her. Her face falls, she can’t look at him anymore and maybe that’s what stopped him.

“I’m so fuckin sick of you disobeying me... I can’t keep letting you get away with shit like this.”

“Then maybe you should just let me go. Not like you need a Familiar.”

That’s not what she wanted to say. That’s so wrong. Take it back, Take it back, Take it back. Her face mirrors his, anger passing quickly through, replaced by shock or fear, and a lot of pain. Those may be the last words he ever thought he’d hear from Kenzie. She can almost hear his heart pounding. The words hang over them, playing on a loop in her ear. She feels paralyzed, she can’t find anything to say, anything that can make all this go away.

“Is that what you want?”

No

“Is that why you didn’t come find me?”

There is it. Doubt, rearing it ugly head. How can he even think that. “No, I swear—“

“You swear? Because demons are such honest creatures, so naturally I have to believe you now.” He scoffs and takes a step back. His hand comes to rest of his eyes for a quick minute and Kenzie wants to cry.

She wants to cry because he’s not looking at her, because he doesn’t believe her even though she’d never lied. Never to him or anyone else. It’s not fair. Humans aren’t fair. She tries to reach for him but he pulls away, disgusted look on his face.

“You know, I’m sick of storming out. Maybe it’s your turn this time.”

He’s never asked her to leave before. She doesn’t go anywhere without him. It’s just the way things are. But his face tells her how serious he is. The longer she stands there, the heavier his stare. She forces her feet to move, eyes cast down, and she walks out. He doesn’t look back, he doesn’t move, the sound of her feet on the wooden floor get further away until he can’t hear them anymore.

Kenzie thinks she can feel the cold. That maybe, for once, her feet hurt from walking barefoot all the time, and the wind burns her face. She’s not sure how it’s possible, maybe she’s imagining it. But it doesn’t stop her. Being human sounds so great up until she get a glimpse of their pain. It’s so much, too much. How can they live this way. One human can conflict so much pain, what would it be like if she cared about more people. What does Micha feel? His parents are dead, he has no other family, he’s all alone. Harvey was alone. He was abandoned, and when he found a coven, they didn’t want him either. He was alone until he called for her. He gave her what she wanted, a human life, and it’s so bad. It’s the worse. There’s a dead heart in her chest that doesn’t belong to her and shouldn’t feel anything but it still aches. Maybe if it beat, she’ll feel love first before all this pain. She’ll remember what it was like before, when it was just them and she was so happy even if she was always scared he’d never come back one day. She wants to experience that with a living heart, not this. The dark side of Harvey she’s not supposed to see. The side that gets too sad and too drunk and crawls in her bed for comfort.

The arguments shouldn’t turn into fights. She shouldn’t yell at him, she shouldn’t anger him. He should trust her, and maybe understand what she’s trying to do for him. It’s all for him. She has no reason to be here, Harvey brought her and she doesn’t wanna be here without him. That’s always been her motivation for everything she does. When she’s quiet about being left alone even though she hates it, when she accepts not practicing magic even if that’s the only thing she really knows how to do, and every time she watches him get hurt and doesn’t say a word even if it kills her. She told him so many times, she was made for him. Isn’t that enough.

Kenzie doesn’t realize how far she wandered off until she sees the truck parked to the side. She walks to it and that’s when she notices the figure sitting against one of the back tires.

“Micha, what are you doing?”

“Well, I was expecting Harvey. He’s usually the one to leave.”

“You heard?”

“No, I didn’t eavesdrop. I left as soon as he started yelling...” he’s not sure if that’s a good thing anymore.

Kenzie sits with him, feeling him shiver a little with the cold. He looks at her but she can’t meet his eyes. “I said a horrible thing, Micha.”

“Runs in the family.” He nudges her shoulder.

“He doesn’t want me anymore.”

“Hey, woah, easy. That’s just crazy.” He grabs her shoulders to make her look at him, to show her how serious he is. She’s on the verge of tears, she looks like she just had her heart broken for the first time. Maybe it did. “This is Harvey we’re talking about, the idiot who gets between you and a knife even though he’s the mortal one. It was a fight, this isn’t the first time you guys fight.”

Kenzie just covers her face, not trusting her eyes to stay dry anymore. She feels Micha pull her to his chest and a sob escapes her. If there’s such a thing as a perfect demon, she’s the exact opposite. There’s something fundamentally wrong with her to feel anything at all, to be crying over a human.

Micha holds onto her for a while, lets her get everything out, though he doesn’t get much about what actually happened or what she said. If he knows Harvey at all then he knows the guy won’t ever leave Kenzie, it goes the same for both of them. Kenzie’s never been kicked out before, she doesn’t know how long before Harvey calms down, she knows that if it was him who left then he’d be out til midnight but she can’t do that, she can barely manage few hours. It nags at her, telling her to go back now but she can get herself to move. She’s scared of facing him, she’s scared because she doesn’t know why she disobeys him so much. She used to follow his words like law. There’s no questioning when it comes to his orders. But again she was locked up in a room and the only rule she can break was sneak out for a little bit. It’s different now, there’s humans involved, or maybe she’s different. She can’t tell what happened, before it was just them and sometimes Micha too, now it’s barely them. Harvey’s too angry and he doesn’t even want Micha around, or maybe he just doesn’t want Micha around her. It doesn’t make sense. But she’s not gonna figure it out here.

She tells Micha she has to go and he lets her, he watches until she disappears between the trees before he leaves. Kenzie feels herself move slow, not in a rush to get back, not sure what she’s getting back to. Will Harvey still be there, will he be angrier than before, is Kathy still there. She feels so stupid, what if Kathy heard them. Of course she heard them, they were yelling and it’s an empty house, sound travels fast. She can’t focus on that right now. She messed up, she opened her mouth and messed up. How can she say something like that. She knows better. As she gets distracted being mad at herself, she finds herself in front of the house. She doesn’t waste anymore time, seeing the sun has began to set and goes inside. Kathy has one of Harvey’s shirts on as she eats dinner in front of the T.V. She barely acknowledges Kenzie and that seems like a good sign. They had sex, she’s still here, she still hates Kenzie, all indicates that she didn’t hear them after all.

Harvey’s in their bedroom. He’s walking around with a book in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Kenzie doesn’t make a sound until he turns and sees her. She walks in and closes the door. Waiting to be kicked out again or for him to say she’s late. But he ignores her, instead going back to his book. Kenzie sees the way his feet drag, his entire body swaying as he moves and looks at his side of the bed to see the open orange plastic bottle without a label, right next to it is a large bottle of half empty vodka.

“How much did you take?” She runs to him, stopping him to look at his eyes, they look so sleepy, and his pupils almost nonexistent. He tries to move but she’s in his way again. “Harvey, how much did you take?”

“Why do you care?” He lifts his cigarette to his lips and Kenzie takes a step back.

“Because It’s you.”

“You shouldn’t have come back.” He can’t seem to open his eyes completely.

“I’m not gonna leave you.”

Harvey throws his book against the wall, the loud bang making Kenzie tense and look away. “Why?” He yells, “you fuckin hate me, I ruined your life!”

She can’t tell if it’s the drugs or it’s him. Maybe that’s what he’s been holding back, why he’s pulling away from her ever since they left the coven.

“Then I ruined your life too. We both fucked up. You didn’t ask for this, you just wanted a Familiar. I hold you back, I made you babysit me for two years and even now, you can’t really live your life because of me.”

Harvey wasn’t expecting that. He looks a little dumbfounded. Like he had his speech prepared and Kenzie just ruined it by saying something he can’t argue with. He walks around her, putting out his cigarette and sitting on the mattress. He feels so tired, partially drunk, but he’s tired and everything feels so numb. He wonders what Kenzie’s thinking about and maybe he asked because she sits next to him and holds his hand.

“I’ll never leave you.” She repeats.

Harvey feels her pull him down, he lays on his back and she’s next to him, head resting on his shoulder. It’s so hard to stay awake.

“I don’t wanna worry about someone stealing you from me.” He admits, voice quiet and scratched.

She shakes her head and holds him tighter, listening to his heart beat so slow that it scares her. Maybe because he never had a real family, or he did, he knows what it’s like to be happy and have that taken away from him, that’s what makes him hold on to her so tight. She doesn’t know anything about his past, before he summoned her, doesn’t know who he was or how bad it was for him. If he was all alone and he finally got to have a family with Kenzie. He found someone who can’t leave him.

“I can’t feel anything.” His voice is low.

Kenzie doesn’t move, her eyes open and she tries to look up at him but he has one arm thrown over his eyes.

“When I killed that junkie you were staying with, every time I beat someone half to death. I feel nothing.”

“What about when you’re with me?”

He takes a shaky breath, getting up and making Kenzie sit up too. He has his back to her. “I don’t know I just can’t stand the thought of you being with someone else. It drives me crazy.”

She stares at his back, the tension in his form, the way his foot taps on the floor. “But you left. You did, not me.”

“I don’t know! I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” He covers his face again.

Kenzie reaches for him, her hand wrapping around his and moving up to pull it away from his face. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Harvey. It’s just...”

“Just what?” He turns to her.

She laces their fingers together. “I don’t feel things the way you do. I can’t explain, I just know what you mean, I don’t wanna be with anyone else.”

“You’ll only belong to me.”

“I know.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of part one. Part two is still work in progress.

Harvey stirs a lot in his sleep, Kenzie doesn’t sleep right away, listening to him breathe evenly as she stares at the ceiling. She wonders if he’s dreaming, he keep a tight arm around her when she tries to move so she settles on her side and looks out the window instead. She finds herself more happy that he just got angry, she can’t stand it when he cries. She can’t stand when he doesn’t tell her why. But today he got mad and he threw things around and somehow that’s better. She knew what she did, she knew why he was mad, she understood. Kenzie closes her eyes, giving up to sleep, but her dress clings to her from the heat, Harvey is burning up and his sweat is seeping through his clothes. They’re pressed together in a solid line and Kenzie can’t escape him even when he’s sleeping. She wiggles to get comfortable and feels his hair tickle the back of her neck. She pushes her face deeper into the pillow and holds the hand wrapped around her middle, it’s not the bad when she’s that tired.

She’s too sleepy to be aware of what’s happening around her but she’s pulled out of her sleep in the middle of the night. She’s not sure why, then she feels how empty the bed is, maybe it’s not completely empty but she can’t feel Harvey next to her. She smells Harvey’s cigarette and realizes he’s somewhere in the room. The smell doesn’t bother her so she tries to go back to sleep, which isn’t gonna that hard. It’s not long before she’s awake again. She stirs a little, annoyed that she can’t stay asleep for continuous eight hours and again she’s reminded of Harvey’s absence by the empty bed. She tries to open her eyes but the mattress dips and she feels a hand against her stomach.

“I’m right here.” Harvey murmurs.

Kenzie forces herself to go back to sleep, there’s no reason for her to keep waking up. She drifts off faster this time. Maybe because Harvey is next to her, he rubs little circles against her stomach and watches her breath slow down until she’s sleeping. Harvey tires not to make any noise when he gets up again. He sits at the edge of the mattress staring at his phone until his cigarette burns his finger. He puts it out in favor of a new one. The sun starts to rise and he turns to make sure Kenzie still asleep, the little sneaking rays hit her face and it makes him stare for a long time. The rooms fills up with smoke and thats when he realizes how long he’s been sitting here doing nothing. He gets up to get dressed, quietly as possible, throwing glances at Kenzie to see if he woke her. After he slips his boots on, he leans to grab his almost empty cigarette pack and lighter, shoving them in his jacket pocket. He kneels on the mattress, hand on Kenzie’s hip to get her to lay on her back.

“I have to go, smaller sister. Can I get a kiss?”

She’s not entirely awake, she hums with her eyes closed and tries to turn but he holds her still with one hand. He leans down, placing a kiss on her cheek.

“You owe me one.” He smiles at the way she reaches for his hand even when she’s not conscious. He gets up and when he walks out, he makes sure he closes the door as gently as possible so she doesn’t wake.

Kenzie wakes up to Kathy, making breakfast at 10:08 a.m and the sound of it is very annoying. Harvey isn’t in bed. Kenzie gets up anyway. She gets in the shower and takes a long time just so she doesn’t have to see Kathy. She pulls a vintage lacy black dress on, little spaghetti straps and reaches right above her knees. She ruffles her hair in the mirror to get it dry and that’s when she hears her phone vibrate. She goes to pick it up and her screen has 13 texts from Micha and 5 missed calls. Not a good sign. She calls him back quickly, her mind racing to what could get him to blow up her phone.

“Holy shit, do you ever answer your phone?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Is Harvey with you?”

She looks to his bag, noticing the missing pair of boots and turns behind her to his side of the bed, the spot where he keeps his cigarette also empty. “No.” Her brows furrow. “Why?”

Micha’s quiet for a second but it feels longer than that. He’s clearly thinking and it feels so loud between them. “I don’t know where Val is. I woke up in the middle of the night and she wasn’t there, she’s not answering me and neither is Harvey.”

Kenzie knows that the second she thinks about it, she won’t be able to get it out of her head. So she doesn’t. She thinks about Harvey being away for his usual secret reasons. “You don’t have her on a leash? You said you’re gonna look into it.” She doesn’t mean to yell but her voice gets louder on its on.

“I did. I’m not an idiot, McKenzie. She said she didn’t even know Harvey until I introduced them and she has no reason to hurt him. She said she’ll stay with me every second of the day until we believe her.”

“You are an idiot.” Kenzie closes her eyes for a second. She needs to think about this, logically. She would know if Harvey’s dead. She’d sense it. She’d know. But she doesn’t know. She’s so lost. She doesn’t know what to do, or think, her mind can’t work anymore.

“We’ll find him—“

“Micha just— do something. I don’t care what you have to do. But get it done.”

She can’t think about it. She can’t think about him being dead. He’s not. He’s alive and she’s overreacting. He’s the most powerful witch to exist. He won’t die. If he was missing she wouldn’t pat an eye but the fact that Valentine is no where to be found makes Kenzie think about things that she never even wanted to consider. After she spends sometime taking everything in, fighting between feeling stupid for worrying and going crazy coming up with scenarios of what might’ve happened, she finds herself calling Train. She remembers how much Harvey said he trusted him, and that she should too. She has every reason to, now. He seems to believe as much as her that Valentine is hiding something.

“Talk fast, I have work.”

“Hey..” she hates how her voice shakes. “Sorry, I feel so stupid saying this out loud but I’m worried about Harvey. Have you heard from him today... or last night?”

Train takes a small pause. “No, why?”

Kenzie lets her breath out slowly. This doesn’t mean anything. Harvey doesn’t need to check in with anyone. “Valentine is missing and I just... I don’t know what to do, Train. I feel like I’m losing my mind a little.”

Train catches on fast. “Hey, don’t panic, Harvey can take care of himself... just—“ he stops himself, there’s some rustling in the background. “I’ll keep calling him and I’ll check in his usual hang-outs.” He sounds confident, really reassuring.

Kenzie clenches her fist, doing her best to believe him. “Thank you.” Kenzie hangs up first and she holds everything in. If watching humans taught her anything, it’s that she’s stronger than them.

_“Hold still, my love.”_

_Kenzie doesn’t listen, turn her head to catch a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror. Harvey’s standing behind her brushing her hair after her shower. Her hair reaches all the way down to her hip when it’s wet, she wishes it wouldn’t curl up and shrink. Harvey keeps her in place, sitting on the closed toilet seat._

_Harvey had just turned eighteen. Kenzie with her human form being only eleven still looks very small. Harvey was gone the morning of his birthday, Kenzie had woken up because she’s not very used to sleeping alone. She thought about him coming back but she read enough books to know how seriously humans take turning eighteen. She didn’t wanna think about Harvey leaving forever. All his things were there, the room looked the same, she still sensed his barrier but there was a little noise in the back of her head, she didn’t know why. Harvey does come back, with new books and food, he doesn’t say anything. The excitement showing on his face, he throws himself on the their bed, head laying on Kenzie’s lap. He looks so happy and it makes Kenzie smile like an idiot. He tells her to shower while he eats and she does._

_Then they end up like this, Kenzie doesn’t know what he’s thinking and having to hold still, which is hard for her, while he braids her hair._

_“I thought you might leave.” She breaks the silence._

_He chuckles and tucks the stray hair behind her ear. “Why?”_

_She shrugs. If she opens her mouth the truth will come out and it’s stupid._

_Harvey takes a deep breath. “We’re gonna go see Micha, alright?”_

_She nods. Harvey doesn’t have to spell it out for her, she knows what he meant. Somehow experiencing human emotions is too easy for her. She realized how afraid she would be if he left her. But fear isn’t bad, it’s loneliness. It cuts deep and the thought of it makes Kenzie feel like she has a heart and it can break._

_“You’ll always choose me, right?”_

_Harvey’s all done with her hair, he admires his work for a second, then leans down and gives her a kiss against her ear. He leaves the bathroom so she can get dressed and closes the door behind him._

_Kenzie knows something changed, maybe it’s just a hunch or maybe Harvey knows he’s free now. The world can accept him because he’s an adult, he doesn’t have to stay here anymore. If he stays it’s because of her, she’s in a human body so she has to follow their rules. For the first time she’s reminded that she’s so different from Harvey. From all of humanity._

Kenzie goes outside, even if she doesn’t wanna see Kathy. The living room is empty, the T.V on but muted so the noise from the kitchen draws her attention. She opens the door slightly, finding Kathy over the sink with her back to Kenzie.

“Morning.” She mumbles.

Kathy throws a look behind her shoulder, not answering.

Kenzie wants to roll her eyes a little. “Any clue where Harvey is?” Kenzie tries to sound causal but her voice gives her away.

Kathy drop what’s in her hands and dries them against the towel hanging next to her, taking her time before turning around to face Kenzie. “Work, probably.” Her tone is dripping with sarcasm.

Kenzie takes a minute to let the information sink in. This isn’t the time to be surprised, she just needs to see if Kathy knows anything useful.

“You didn’t know your brother works?” Kathy is trying to be condescending.

Kenzie clears her throat. “No.”

Kathy enjoys that, a small tug at her lips shows it. “Yeah, he got a part time gig. They use him down by the river since they’re building some new houses.”

New, but not very useful. All she found out so far, is that everyone else knows more about her brother than she does. Kenzie scratches at the bruise on her neck. “I can’t reach him. I thought maybe he told you something before he left.”

“Really sweetie, you gave him permission to talk to me?” She scoffs and a disgusted look grows on her face. “Like he talks to me anymore. It’s all about little McKenzie. Perfect little sister that can’t do no wrong.”

“I—I really don’t care about your relationship problems I just wanna find him. It’s urgent.”

“Ever since you showed up, it’s like I’m fuckin invisible.” She holds onto the back of the chair and it shakes with her anger. “I thought it was cute, when you came and he was so sweet to you and I saw a different side of him. He wasn’t all mysterious and stoic and brooding. You just had to fuckin ruin everything.”

Kenzie doesn’t have time for this. Kathy is clearly upset about something that might not be an issue anymore, since Harvey is no where to be found.

“I can’t think of a single reason why he cares about you so much.” Kathy seems to be talking to herself, she looks away to consider the answer then she looks up again. “Then I thought, that’s dumb, they’re siblings. Little did I know,”

Kenzie opens her mouth, trying to think of something that would calm Kathy down. Kathy doesn’t give her chance. She starts walking to her, eyes glaring and lips twisted angrily. “You’re not his sister.”

“What?” The words leave Kenzie’s mouth before she can think about it.

Kathy is too close now, challenging Kenzie, looking down at her. “I shoulda known, after I saw those marks.”

Kenzie’s hand comes up to touch her neck, taking a step back, the shock on her face can convince anyone that Kathy’s full of shit.

“You’re not related.” Kathy mocks, like she cracked the biggest mystery there is. “So, are you an ex or something? I know you two are fuckin.”

Kenzie blinks up at her, not sure that she’s hearing everything right. She tries to put some space between them before she says anything but Kathy won’t let her. Kathy shoves her back against the door and gets angrier after she does it. Kenzie doesn’t feel anything. She stumbles a little before catching her footing and standing straight. Her brows eternally knotted with confusion over what she’s hearing.

Kathy shoves her again, but there’s no where for Kenzie to go anymore. “All the sneaking around and whispering and I see how you two fuckin look at each other. I thought it was so disgusting til I realized you’re not even related. Or you really are and you two are just fuckin psychopaths. Either way, you did a shitty job of hiding it.”

Kenzie pulls away, sneaking her small frame away from Kathy and standing text to the dinning table. “What’s wrong with you?” She wants to yell but she’s still too surprised to feel anything else.

Kathy doesn’t look like she’s listening. “You’re the reason everything went to shit. You took him from me.”

Kenzie covers her eyes for a second, trying to focus. She needs to find Harvey. “I didn’t take him away from you. He’s my brother.”

Kathy looks genuinely shocked but she gets over it pretty fast. She takes a step closer to Kenzie. “You thought that little story was gonna work. I’m not blind—“

“Clearly you are!” Kenzie has to put a stop to this.

“Why don’t you just move one and leave us. I don’t want you in my house anymore.”

Kenzie has a different way to put a stop to this. “There’s no us. You’re little out of it, he’s never gonna stay with you.” She feels stupid but maybe if she gets Kathy jealous enough, then she’ll drop all this. She’ll realize she has no chance with Harvey and Kenzie can focus on what’s important.

“What did you say?” Kathy looks like she might blow a fuse.

Kenzie leans against the table and shrugs. “He’s never gonna leave me. He came back for me, you’re just a little toy for him to waste time with.” This is a waste of time.

Kathy rushes at her, hand up in the air trying to slap Kenzie again, but Kenzie’s too fast. She takes a step back and watches Kathy fall with all her might against the table. The loud bang filling the silence before Kathy drops to the floor. Kenzie doesn’t hear any groaning or breathing noises. It’s too quiet. Kathy doesn’t move and slowly, very slowly, a small pile of blood starts making its way on the wooden floor. Kenzie smells it before she notices it.

She stands frozen over Kathy, head spinning and hands shaking. She doesn’t know why all of the sudden it feels like gravity has an uncontrollable hold on her. She drops to the floor on her knees next to Kathy, everything starts to feel so far away. She’s not sure if this is what a beating heart feels like but she can swear that it hurts. She feels like she’s being split in two, down to her demonic essence. There’s something pulling at her but she can’t move. It reminds her of when she was first summoned but this is much worse. This is almost torture and she knows what that’s like. It’s like being back in Hell, where she didn’t have a body that can feel, where pain didn’t have a limit. Fear paralyzes her, fear of being taken away, sent back to Hell, never seeing Harvey again.

It doesn’t last though, it’s over as fast as is started. She regains control over her body, slowly rising to her feet again. She can’t sense Kathy anymore. There’s nothing coming off her. It feels too much, all of it. Now she has a dead body she can’t explain. Not sure who she’s gonna explain it to if she can’t find Harvey.

Kenzie hears footsteps outside, her feet move faster than her brain, running to the living room. No one knows about this place, no one comes here. It’s Harvey, it has to be. Kenzie meets a set of eyes with a shared color. She feels her heart drop. It’s Train.

“Did you find him?” He asks.

Kenzie knows something’s wrong with this picture. She looks up and stares. Train waits for her to say something. The silence sits between them while she thinks. Like a little screw unbolting and falling to the ground. “How did you get in here?” Her eyes are open wide.

Train wants to say something sarcastic, it’s clear by his body language, but he changes his mind. His shoulders fall and his eyes close, realizing what she meant. “The barrier.” He grits his teeth hard.

“Why isn’t the barrier up?” She’s about to cry, her voice wavers and her feet might not hold her anymore. Train rushes to her, he takes hold of her hand and makes her lean against a table by the stairs. She doesn’t resist.

“He’s fine, sweetheart. There’s a weird explanation for this and he’ll tell us when we find him.” Train has such a soothing voice, he feels Kenzie relax when he pulls her to his chest. She holds his shirt tight, doing her best not to cry but he can feel the silent tears against his clothes. He strokes her back, and tells her many times that it’s gonna be ok. He reminds her of how strong Harvey is and she nods along but cries louder.

Kenzie tries to stop crying for few minutes to get her thoughts together. Her head is telling her how illogical this is, crying won’t fix anything. But there’s a giant hole in her chest that won’t stop aching. She became so weak, she wanted to be human so bad that she forgot how to be strong. Train seems to be doing such a better job keeping himself together. He’s here and he’s assuring her when he doesn’t have to. Harvey was right about him. Harvey is always right.

She pulls away slowly, not looking up, embarrassed to be seen this way. She wipes her tears away but her eyes give her away. “I’m sorry. This is weird.”

“Never thought a demon would cry on my shoulder.” He has a tight smile on his lips. “I’m sure getting it all out feels better.”

Kenzie gets on her feet, Train backing away to let her get her footing. She lets all the air out of her lungs and wipes her eyes again. She looks at the kitchen door, somehow Kathy’s dead body feels it’s watching her. Train follows her eyes, clearing his throat. Kenzie turns to him. “There’s a dead body in the kitchen.”

Train’s eyes slowly widen, he’s doing his best to hide his shock. “Oh.”

Kenzie shifts her weight off one foot to the other. “I’m guessing you had no luck.”

Train shakes his head. “I know of few places he stays and I checked his job but they said he didn’t have a shift today.”

Kenzie yet again is reminded by how much all these people know Harvey and she doesn’t. Micha better be getting closer to finding Harvey or she’ll find a new Master just to practice magic and kill him. On cue, Kenzie’s phone rings, she gets it out of the little pocket in her dress and it’s Micha. She hurries to answer, Train keeping his eyes on her.

“There’s only one thing I wanna hear from you.” Her anger returns, realizing how much Micha is responsible for this.

“I used some of the stuff he left in my apartment to do a locator spell. He’s in the city, I’ll send you the address so meet me there.”

Kenzie hangs up without another word. Train can tell something is off. Kenzie gets the address with a little ping sound, she explains to Train where they’re headed. Train tries not to ask too many questions about what kind of magic was used to find Harvey. Train drives them to Greensboro, the drive feeling longer than before. The address is on the edge of town, Train says it’s a storage unit that’s been abandoned for few years. Kenzie thinks about what Harvey would be doing in an abandoned storage unit, he doesn’t practice much at the house so there’s a good chance he likes how secluded it is. A place for him where he doesn’t have to worry about being discovered or hurting anyone.

Kenzie keeps remembering Harvey’s smile, but she doesn’t want to, she doesn’t believe the suggestion her mind is telling her, that she might not see him again so she should hold on to what she has left. But he always had such a beautiful smile, and he only showed it to her. When she turns into her animal form and plays with little yarn balls on the bed, when she puts his clothes on and tries to act like him, telling him he always looks bored and she cant tell what he’s thinking. He would smile wide and encourage her to keep going. His best smile was after she got lonely because he was gone for a day and a half, he says she almost cried, but she swears that he imagined it. She asked him a simple question when they were getting ready for bed.

_“Can you really love me when you can’t see me?”_

_He smiles so hard that she almost see his back teeth, he pulls her back against him and looks at her through the bathroom mirror. She sees his eyes smile, they shine, imagining they look the same._

_“I’ll love you even when I’m dead, smaller sister.”_

Train circles the parking lot, finding only one care which belongs to Micha. Micha isn’t anywhere near the car. Train and Kenzie get out and look around. Train suggests she calls Micha to see where he is as they walk around. There are one floor square buildings stuck together, they go in to lines parallel to each other. Train and Kenzie walk from the parking lot to the front office, or the building that was once the front office. The shaky door has window with worn out letter that spell something not recognizable.

“McKenzie.” Micha’s voice seems hard to get out. He has his hands in his pockets and his eyes look so dark. He doesn’t let his eyes meet Kenzie. She runs all the way to him, piercing daggers at him. Micha takes a deep breath, avoiding looking at Kenzie. His face looks grim, his shoulders slummed, not able to get his voice out.

“Where’s he?” Kenzie prompts. Micha shouldn’t look like that, that look doesn’t give Kenzie any hope. She looks around, trying to see any open units, there’s one right behind Micha, the sliding door slightly lifted. Her body moves, heading in that direction but Micha blocks her way. Still completely silent. Kenzie tries again but he grabs her elbow, lips pressed together and breaths coming short.

“Micha, where is he?” She repeats.

“You shouldn’t see him like that.”

“Like what?”

Humans lie, whether they mean to or not, whether they like it or not. They all lie. That’s a fact that Harvey drilled into her head. Kenzie learned long ago to tell when the person in front of her is in fact lying or not. She likes that she can tell, she enjoys how humans can be an open book when they talk to her, intentionally or not. They can’t help it. Their body language, their words, their eyes, it all gives them away. In a way, they’re all just like Pinocchio, they have a tell-take sign that show whenever they lie. But even better than Pinocchio, humans have a soul. The soul can’t lie. No one in Hell can lie. All those souls roaming around, Kenzie can see their truth plain as day, their sins, their regrets, their pain.

Micha’s eyes tell her everything without having to ask. He refuses to look at her, maybe he knows that the answer is written all over his face. Kenzie finds it hard to enjoy her gift in that moment. She wants to be wrong, she wants to ask and have Micha tell her that Harvey’s alive, he’s just hurt. That she can’t always read the humans, that maybe Micha is so good at hiding his feelings. Micha exchanges a look with Train and suddenly Train is by her side, trying to guide her away. She’s plaint at first, her feet moving away on their own.

“No!” He pulls her arm away and heads to the unit with the slightly open door. “I wanna see. He’s in there isn’t he?”

Train grabs her again, this time with both hands. He holds her by the elbows, forcing her back so he can wrap an arm around her middle. “McKenzie there’s nothing you can do.” Train’s voice comes near her ear, soft and understanding.

“No, no, I just wanna see, he’s in there... I wanna see!” Her vision blurs and it’s not until she blinks she notices the tears coming down. “I wanna see him.” Her voice cracks.

Micha keeps his head down. “Just get her out of here.”

Kenzie kicks a lot. She doesn’t go along easy. She needs to see for herself. Train is freakishly strong, or she’s just very small in comparison. Train is someone who’s really easy to open up to. He makes it easy to cry. She doesn’t just cry, not little hiccups and mewls, she sobs, fat ugly tears coming down her cheeks. She wets almost the entire front of Train’s shirt. Her eyes turn red, her vision blurry as Train puts her in the car and she lifts her knees and hides her face. She screams, loud and angry and unforgiving. Train can’t do anything for her. He watches her fall apart.

“He’s not dead, he’s not dead, he’s not dead...” She keeps mumbling to herself. She knew, she knew when Kathy died and she felt like she was ripped apart. That was when he died but it’s useless, she couldn’t do anything, she couldn’t stop it. She didn’t even know what was happening. She was useless. No matter how loud she screams on the outside, she feels like she can’t get it out. There’s a mess inside, there’s so much pain, it twists and turns, messing her up. This isn’t fair, she’s not just broken, she’s shattered, and lost, and no book can explain why it hurts so bad. She can’t understand why it feels like she’s being left behind, abandoned by the only person she ever loved. There’s a gaping wound right inside her, open and bleeding away and she can’t find it, she can’t make it stop. She realizes she’s not in control over her tears anymore, they keep coming, her mind not accepting that she’s alone. She’s lost who she is, the reason she exists, they only reason she’s alive.

Flesh and blood, sculpted into a man and turned into dust. That’s all he ever was. That’s all what’s left of him. She knows it better than anyone, sure as Hellfire, he was always gonna die. When she looks back, all she ever went through, all the good and the bad, they were both broken from the start. There’s so much she wants to tell him, so much to apologize for. She’s sorry she couldn’t believe how much he loved her, sorry she was so blind that she left him and never looked for him, sorry she runs away and hides behind him every time she’s unsure, sorry she never said how much she loved him looking at her, sorry she broke his heart with her ignorance. There’s a lifetime she wants to live, but it’s not with him anymore. She wants to go back, to before, to the night they met. When he looked so lost and scared and smiled at her anyway. When his eyes were filled with fear and he hadn’t touched her yet. She wants him back again, all of him, before the humans. She lost him so slowly that she didn’t even notice. Now she has nothing left.

Some time between the crying and the screaming and the long drive, she falls asleep. Train carries her inside, walking the trail with her small frame against his chest. He tries his best not to cry, he’ll have time for that later. He has no idea what demons need. He doesn’t know what to do and he can’t mess up, not now, not when she’s like this. He watches the kitchen door, haunted by what she said earlier. He blinks the tears away and takes her to her room. He stands frozen after she’s on the mattress. He sees Harvey’s things on the floor, his clothes in a bag, his books, the ashtray next to the mattress. He’s not that strong, he can’t keep it together when he feels like Harvey might walk in any minute. He realizes that he has to distract himself. He takes a deep breath and walks to the kitchen, scared of what he might find. Kathy lays motionless on the ground, a pool of blood by her head. Train rushes upstairs, grabbing the shower curtain and coming back down again, he wraps Kathy in it. He does his best to avoid looking at her face, she looks pale and her eyes lifeless like a doll. He covers her as quickly as possible and drags her outside by the feet.

Train digs for a long time, the cold wind against his face, his sweat drenching his shirt, and dirt getting in his boots. He keep looking over at Kathy’s body like she’s gonna get up. The rusty shovel barely holding on. He hears footsteps and freezes. There’s nothing that can get him out of this situation. His heart drums in his ears as the sound closes in. From the around the house shows Micha, glaring down and stomping to him. Clearly been crying, he refuses to look up but he’s curious about what’s happening.

“She alright, mate?” Micha’s voice is gruff.

Train swallows and nods, going back to digging. Then he stops, looking up. “Actually, I don’t know.” He wipes the sweat off his face. “She screamed her lungs out the entire ride, I didn’t know demons can feel loss or grief. I’m—I don’t know her like you do.”

“Well, if it was anyone else she wouldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t cry?”

“Wouldn’t feel.” Micha corrects. “Besides, I doubt she wants to see me.”

Train goes back to digging. “So grab a shovel.”

The boys go inside to find Kenzie sitting in the middle of the mattress, eyes downcast. She blinks slowly, eyes puffy and nose red from crying. It takes her some time to completely get caught up.

“Get out.” She doesn’t yell but her voice hoarse.

They both stand by the door frame, not sure if she meant them both. They look so nervous, two grown men against one little girl. She looks up again and finds they haven’t moved. She grabs the small lamp on the floor and throws it at Micha with all her power.

“I said get out!”

Train flenches while Micha catches the worst of it, getting hit in the legs. Micha step away, opening his mouth to say something but betting against it and leaving.

Kenzie looks like she wants to cry again, but there’s nothing left. She lays back down, holding Harvey’s pillow to her chest. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I have nothing better to do.” Train sits down against the door frame, staring into nothing.

Kenzie learns in the short span she spends on the bed, Harvey smell surrounding her, that she can’t live without him. She wants to be with him, she wants to find him, doesn’t matter where his soul ended up, she wants to be with him. Not just with him, like him. Dead. If she closes her eyes she can almost hear him walk to the bed, slowly sitting down, not to wake her and wrapping his arms around her waist like he always does. He would give her a kiss on the cheek or her shoulder before pulling her tight, she would smell his cigarettes and go to sleep. But she can’t dream, and it doesn’t matter how hard she imagines it, the bed is still empty, she’s still missing his warmth, and no one gonna kiss her goodnight anymore.

The possibility of living without him never crossed her mind, she’s been denying this feeling inside her. The hopelessness of losing him one day, she never faced that. She believed is something so far away, like she’s human, like she can have hopes. She promised she would protect him, she promised she’ll always be by his side, she lied, she broke her promise. He believed her and she’s broken. She has nothing left of him, these memories and desperate cruel wanting can’t be the only thing that survives.

“Why don’t you wanna see Micha? I thought he was your best friend.” Train breaks the silence, making it sound like the most casual question.

“I’m not in the mood for a conversation.”

Train shrugs even though she can’t see him. “Wouldn’t you rather have a friend with you in a time like this, instead of... well, me.”

“I would rather not have anyone with me. Not to mention you just buried a dead body for me which makes us very close friends.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t aware that she saw him. “I guess it does.”

“Did—“ She chocks up. “Did Micha tell you what happened?”

Train tenses, not sure what to say, yes he knows. Micha told him there were two bodies in there, Harvey’s and Valentine’s. Micha also told him that Harvey didn’t even resemble himself, that whatever spell was used, it was horrible. He can’t tell her that, he can’t tell her that Harvey died alone and in pain. He swallows thickly. “He confronted Valentine and neither one walked away.”

Kenzie finally lifts her head, looking at Train. “I wanna go to sleep.” She declares.

Train gets up, his lids feeling heavy, he watches her curl onto herself.

“You know what the last said he said to me was?”

Train waits by the door, afraid to move. “What?” He asks.

“You’ll only belong to me.” She chokes up and her voice breaks.

Train decides to give her some time alone. He closes the door and waits. He hears her crying start quietly, sobs buried in the pillow, then as it gets louder he walks away.

Kenzie’s entire lifetime of logic can’t seem to accept the fact that Harvey is gone. It’s not possible, he was so powerful, sometimes too powerful. A mere low level demon like herself or Valentine can’t possibly best him. Kenzie wants to calm down long enough to think but she can’t. She’s missing the part of her that kept her calm, the person who’s entire existence gave her so much balance.

Micha and Train take turns watching over her. They both plan the funeral. They don’t communicate much, neither one delving into how they Harvey or for how long. Turns out neither one could have loved him more than Kenzie does. She spends a lot of time in her room, sometimes they find her wearing Harvey’s clothes, she doesn’t come out when Micha is around. She talks to Train a little though. She comes out of her shell one day in particular, she finds Train devastated on the dinning table and she holds his hand, not able to put a smile on her face. He cries in front of her for the first time, sounding like a lost child. She keeps a brave face on and doesn’t cry. Instead she tells him that it’s gonna be ok. That it will all pass. When he manages to pull himself together he looks embarrassed. She finally asks him how he knew Harvey. Considering how on their first meeting Harvey was very cryptic. Train only says that he knew him since he was born. It seems good enough answer for her.

“Micha feels really bad, you should try and talk to him.”

“He feels bad? Are you shitting me, T? It’s because of him and his stupid inability to control his Familiar—“ Kenzie stops herself, not wanting to get angry anymore. She has no energy for it.

Train holds her hand, looking her in the eyes. “Sweetheart, he never meant for this to happen. He cared so much about Harvey.”

Kenzie misses the warmth of another human. She misses the sound of Harvey’s voice when he spoke in her ear if she was trying to sleep. “He’s just gone. How can he just disappear like that.” She averts her eyes.

Train’s eyes darken again, his hand squeezing hers.

“I know you have to work, but can you stay the night?” Her throat goes dry when she asks.

Train looks shocked, but a little complimented. So far he’s been staying out of free will, she never actually asked for him. “Um... yeah...ok.”

Kenzie looks at Train, really looks at him, his eyes are soft and still wet with tears. She doesn’t realize how much he helped her by staying with her the past week. He’s almost a natural, he has a soothing touch, he knows what to say, and he seems so protective. She doesn’t know she started crying until Train wipes at her tears. “C’mon, we were doing so good.”

She shakes her head. “You just remind me of him, are you a big brother? There’s something about you...I don’t know.”

“Yeah, I am.” He nods, realizing what she’s looking for. She wants family, she wants someone to baby her and take care of her the way Harvey used to.

The day of the funeral Kenzie stays locked up in her room. The boys wait outside the door, all dressed and too cold. She makes it very clear that she’s not going but it doesn’t stop them from trying again. Micha knocks twice before opening the door. They peak inside, Kenzie lays on her back with an empty stare, her eyes look glassy. They notice the pack of cigarette she’s holding. It’s not opened, there’s no lighter in sight. Then they see the open bottle of pills by the edge of the mattress. She’s wearing a large shirt, clearly one of Harvey’s, and socks.

“I keep imagining him walking through the door.” She breaths a loud sigh. “Then it turns out it’s just you guys.” She blinks heavily, sounding completely drugged out.

“McKenzie, we have to go.” Micha walks closer, sitting on the edge of the mattress. “Don’t you wanna say goodbye?”

“He’s dead, Micha, he can’t hear us in the cemetery any better than he can over here.”

Train clears his throat, hand finding a home in his pockets. “Don’t you wanna try? What if he can hear us and he doesn’t find you there?”

Micha turns to him, not entirely sure why Train would say something like that. He closes his eyes for a second, then reaches his hand to Kenzie’s foot, slowly rubbing it. “I know you’ll feel better after this.”

“Oh you know?” She exchanges looks with the both of them, challenging them to answer. She drops her head back down. “I’ve been alive for few hundred years, never felt a thing. Didn’t know what feeling is, then I’m being ripped open because one human died. You don’t know anything. You’re a child, thinking you know how I feel.”

They guys both share the same expression of shock and confusion. Neither one realizing before now how old she really was. They treat her like a child because she acts like one, not in a bad way, and she wants to be treated like one. They see how Harvey always took care of her, did everything for her, she was almost spoiled. She allowed it because she enjoyed it, and Harvey is the dotting type, he liked to pamper her. They both fit the roles they were playing.

_“You love me?” Harvey asks._

_Micha watches how Kenzie just nods. She looks distracted, picking the dead leaves out of the small brach on the ground. Harvey’s sitting against the tree while her small frame is tucked safely against his chest._

_Harvey can’t see her face because of their position, only the back of her neck as she intensely picks on the leaves. “Then say it.”_

_Micha can say now he’s surprised. No demon should feel this way, let alone admit it. But Kenzie looks so human, so small and innocent and breakable._

_“I love you.”_

_The smile tugging on Harvey’s lips is very noticeable even from where Micha is standing. He watches Harvey lean down near her ear. “I don’t believe you.”_

_That gets her attention, she turns her head at an angle to look at him. “I don’t lie.”_

_“You’re gonna have to prove it.”_

_“That I don’t lie?”_

_“That you love me.”_

_“You should believe it by now.” She goes back to her brach and leans her back to his chest._

_“Why?”_

_“‘Cause I don’t love anyone else.”_

The smell of dirt settles in the air, the rain not letting up and Train tracks mud when he comes inside. He pulls his hood off, not hiding his surprise that Kenzie is outside of the bedroom, good sign. He sheds his rain coat and his boots. Kenzie’s covering her face with both hands, which isn’t a good sign.

“McKenzie?”

She doesn’t lift her head, her shoulder shake, silently crying.

He sits next to her, keeping some space between them. He rubs her back and it makes it worse, her crying gets loud. He knows there’s nothing he can say to make her feel better, he’s disappointed with himself for not being able to help. It’s gonna be three weeks now and Kenzie can’t stop crying and refuses to really talk to anyone.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

Train knows there’s more to this so he waits.

The crying stops for a minute, Kenzie gets up fast, her breath coming short. “I don’t know what to do, I don’t know... I can’t be here.”

Train gets up too, watching how frantic she gets. “It’s ok—“

“Don’t say that!” She yells, moving away from him. “Stop telling me it’s gonna be ok, it won’t! It’s never gonna be ok again... I’m alone...” she sobs, eyes blurring. “He just left me and I’m alone... he wasn’t supposed to die...he’s not—he can’t just be gone...” her voice fades, all that escapes is a low whine.

Train moves closer, like approaching a wild animal, his hands come up to her shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

He pulls her close and she hides her face in his chest. “I need to go.”

“Go?”

“I can’t be here anymore, Train. I keep thinking he’s coming back. I have to leave.”

Train pulls her away to look at her. “What?”

She wipes her face, sniffling a little and crossing her arms. “I’m gonna leave.”

“Where?” Train looks a little mad now.

“I don’t know. What does it matter? I was on the streets before, I lived.”

“You wanna leave so you can be homeless?”

“I wanna leave so maybe I can stop thinking about him just for one fuckin minute and—“ she squeezes her eyes shut, hands coming up to her temples. “I’m a mess, I’m a demon who’s useless. All I keep thinking about is going back to Hell or...or...”

Train sees how lost she gets. “Or what? Sweetheart we can work this out. You can come live with me, I promised Harvey I would take care of you and I wasn’t lying.”

She’s taken back by what he said, eyes looking up. “He...made you promise that?”

Train nods, face softening. “He had plan B and C and D and you know how the alphabet go.”

She frowns, lowering her voice. “I’m still leaving. I don’t wanna stay here.”

Train takes her hand, slowly leading her down to the couch. He feels nervous, he’s like a father with a teenage daughter who wants to run away. Except the daughter is a demon and few hundred years old and he doesn’t know how to be a father. “That’s fine. You can leave. I know that I can’t imagine what you feel, but you can’t shut me out. That’s the only way I’ll let you go.”

She nods fast, shoulders lifting a little. She has no energy left to argue. No energy to feel sad or get angry at Micha, she wishes she could’ve given up sooner. She fought so much, so hard, and it hurt even worse, but none of it was gonna bring Harvey back. It takes a lot of her to understand why she’s feeling this way, trying to find an explanation why she’s not like other demons who move on after their Master die. It happens to all of them, she wasn’t gonna be with him forever.

The next time she sees Micha, it’s a week later. The wind lets up, she’s packed, she took all of Harvey’s books. Micha can’t find a single one and he doesn’t have an explanation of where they went. The house hasn’t looked like its been lived in since Harvey died. Kenzie is a ghost, there’s no proof of her existence anywhere. Micha hears the footsteps coming downstairs, his attention taken away from the empty place.

“Where’s everything?”

“Not here.” She looks tired, genuinely tired, hasn’t stopped crying or been to sleep in days kind of tired.

“Are you leaving?” His feet are planted down. He can’t move to her.

She walks past him, holding her only pair of shoes.

“You weren’t gonna say goodbye?”

“I don’t owe you shit. You got him killed so you can sit there and blame yourself. Alone.”

Micha seems like he’s been doing a lot of that without being told. “Please stay.”

Kenzie sits down, putting her shoes on, easily ignoring him.

“I get it if you don’t wanna stay here, if it reminds you of him... but we don’t have to stay here.”

Micha hits a nerve, Kenzie shoots up straight and rushes at him, she shoves him hard, face breaking. “Stop talking, just shut up! You don’t know anything.” She doesn’t relent, pushing him back harder and harder. “I have nothing that reminds me of him. No picture, no gift, I can’t even dream about him, not a single thing. It doesn’t matter where I go, Micha. I’ll still think about him til I go crazy. But at least I can stay away from you!”

He doesn’t resist, letting her hit him as hard as she wants. When he reaches the staircase they stop. “I didn’t mean it. I would do anything to take it back.”

“You can’t, you can’t. You fuckin can’t! I know you didn’t mean it, but he’s still dead. No one means to get their best friend killed.”

“I made a huge mistake, I fucked up, take it out on me. Just don’t leave.”

Kenzie’s cringes, looking like the thought has crossed her mind. She walks away regardless, grabbing her duffle off the couch and walking out.

Micha doesn’t wanna give up though. He follows her. “I can’t lose you, too. You two were my only family. You still are.”

Kenzie doesn’t stop or turn back, her feet making prints in the mud.

“Please, McKenzie, I love you.”

She stops for a second, like she wants to say “I know” but Micha can tell she doesn’t. She doesn’t know what he means. He doesn’t need to look at her to tell that she thinks of him as a friend, and under any other circumstances she would’ve said it back, she wouldn’t mean it the same way he does, but she would’ve said it. Right now she’s angry and sad and too broken to believe anything. She has no time to make him feel better. He doesn’t deserve it. But he always thought she’d say it back. The same way she does to Harvey. The same he heard her say it whenever Harvey asks.

Kenzie knows it hurts him, the way her head isn’t working anymore, how she can’t think straight and it makes her say the strangest things. She wants to stay with him, the only person who knows Harvey the way she does. The person that she knew for so long, she loved like family. But it’s too much, she can’t bring herself to stay, to look at him. Knowing his carelessness is what got them into this. His arrogance and over trust in Harvey. She trusted Harvey, she trusted he was all powerful and nothing can touch him and this is where it got her. At least she had some common sense in the end to take a warning seriously. She doesn’t hear Micha walking behind her anymore. She doesn’t hear his voice, not sure if he said anything at all. The further she get from him, the easier it gets. Being away from any place Harvey been, any mark he left. If she had a choice to erase her memories she would. When humans die they leave nothing behind. That’s the way it should be. It’s not though, theyi leave way more than they did alive. They leave all those people who constantly think about them and the cycle never stops. One dies and the other are left to remember, and when they die, there’s even more who will remember them.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always welcome. Thank you for reading, much appreciated.


End file.
